The Unfortunate Tale of Guinevere Weasley
by dreaming-of-fireflies
Summary: AU where Ginny is born as a set of fraternal twins. This story follows her sister, Guinevere Weasley, as she is sorted into Slytherin and learns to navigate pureblood politics. Ostracised from her family, Guin finds sanctuary in her Uncle Ignatius as well as Sirius Black, who understands what it is like to go against the tradition of your bloodline. Rated M for future dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series, including all characters and plot, belongs to J.K. Rowling_

 _Edited 08/06/2018_

 **ONE: First Year**

Guinevere Weasley was not quite as excited about attending Hogwarts as her twin sister, however, on September 1st she still found herself wide awake at six in the morning. The red haired girl rose as the light of dawn flittered through her window, tiptoeing around Ginny's bed and out into the hallway. She was the only conscious person at the Burrow- or so she thought.

When Guin reached the living room, with its worn, miss-matched sofas and bookcase full of novels (on either household cleaning, muggle products or both), she found a boy with extremely messy black hair perched on the edge of one. Considering every person in her family had varying shades of fire as a hair colour, she should have been concerned at the total stranger who was lounging in her house at such an ungodly hour. Thankfully, although she hadn't met him personally herself, she had heard enough from Ginny and caught a few brief glimpses to know that the famous Harry Potter, whom had become her brother's new best friend, was their honoured guest. She had not felt the need or the want to approach him throughout his stay as he was always around Ronald, a family member she had never gotten along with. Hence, when she found him to be the only person as much awake as herself, she made to turn back and head for the kitchen instead of disturbing him. A voice stopped her.

'Are you Ginny?' He had turned to face her with tired eyes. At that moment she was surprised to find that they were not as they had been described to her (green enough to rival emeralds, her sister had said) but instead seemed older, and more tired, than they should have been.

'No.' She didn't know what else to say. He was _The Boy Who Lived_ , someone who had always been a fairy-tale until recently. After a brief pause, she decided to simply introduce herself. 'I'm Guinevere Weasley. Her twin sister.'

'Oh… I'm Harry. Harry Potter.'

 _I know_ , she wanted to say, but settled with: 'Pleased to meet you.'

There was another awkward pause. She made to leave in hopes of forgetting their dying conversation, but he persisted. 'So you'll be starting your first year? Hoping for Gryffindor?'

'Yes.' _Of course I want to be a Gryffindor. There hasn't been a Weasley_ not _in Gryffindor for three centuries._ 'Are the classes very hard? I already skimmed through all of my books…'

'You remind me of Hermione,' he sighed. 'I wish I had the sense to do that.' He shuddered like he was remembering an awful moment. 'Classes like Astronomy and Herbology aren't too bad, it's Potions and Transfiguration that you need to worry about. Professor McGonagall is fair but expects the best, especially from her house. And Snape's a git.'

'Right. Thanks.' They paused long enough to observe each other for a second. 'Mum won't be up for another hour. Would you like something to eat?'

'Yes!' he cried and leapt to his feet, only to blush and cringe at his own enthusiasm. Guinevere wondered how long he had been up and waiting. Instead of asking, she made her way to the kitchen and settled in making enough peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to temporarily satisfy the two of them. Potter, ever the gentlemen, worked beside her to slice them into halves and then quarters- triangles instead of the squares she was used to. They spent the rest of the morning in companionable silence until her mother appeared to make breakfast (thankfully they had finished by then, she would have had a fit if she found them feeding themselves).

Although half of those residing in the house were early risers (Harry, Guinevere, Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley and Percy), they still managed to be running late for the train. Seven Weasleys and one Potter clambered into the magically expanded Ford Angela, along with their respective trunks, suitcases and pets, in a flurry of jutting limbs. They made it ten minutes down the road before Ginny realised that she had forgotten her diary, which was strange to Guin, who didn't remember her ever having one, and the trip was delayed furthermore when the fireworks Fred and George had smuggled exploded in the trunk.

In the end, they arrived at Kings Cross with ten minutes until the train left. Ushered through the barrier by her mother, Guin clambered into a compartment at the end with her sister following. Their parents hugged them and kissed them fiercely- they were, after all, the last of the brood to leave home- as the train began to move away. The twins waved until they were out of sight and then rushed to find an empty compartment.

While Guin observed the older students running up and down the halls, Ginny found Hermione Granger, a friend of their brother's, alone. With permission the Weasley sisters settled in her compartment, however, the small amount of conversation attempted was stilted, as the brunette was too busy worrying about the whereabouts of her male counterparts. Undisturbed by the silence, Guin pulled out _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ , a book she had been studying extensively after Potter's advice.

She didn't see Potter and her brother throughout the train ride. When they arrived in Hogsmeade, Granger ran to find them without so much as a goodbye. Guin and Ginny headed in the opposite direction to whom they knew to be Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts and their guide across the Black Lake. The twins were seated in a boat with Luna Lovegood, a girl who lived quite near them, and an excitable muggleborn boy called Colin Creevey.

The chatter between the four stopped abruptly when the castle finally came to view in all its magnificence. It had at least five towers, made of old bricks that shone silver in the night and was lit up by what could have been fire but was most likely magic of the most ancient kind. Plants with brilliant green leaves climbed up the walls and glowed. Ginny gasped loudly beside her, but Guin found herself struck mute in awe. The Burrow had a comforting sense of magic about it that she was used to, Hogwarts seemed much more imposing.

The boats stopped at the edge of the lake and Hagrid led them to a large set of double doors made of solid oak. He knocked twice before turning to address the small crowd.

'Welcom' to Hogwarts!' Before he could continue, the doors opened to reveal a stern witch with dark hair.

'Thank you, Hagrid. Follow me, first years.'

Guinevere stayed towards the back of the group as they followed the professor inside the entrance hall. She didn't have time to take in the sights before they were in front of another set of wooden doors.

'As Hagrid said, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' the woman she presumed to be McGonagall began. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin after you are sorted into your houses and, hence, take your seats in the Great Hall. There are four houses called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house contains its own noble history and _each_ has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. Triumphs will be rewarded with house points, however, any rule breaking will lose points. The house with the most points at the end of the year is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I am sure you will all become a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place shortly in front of the rest of the school, so please fix yourselves accordingly.' She paused for a moment to glare at a few select individuals. 'Please wait quietly until I return to escort you.'

Chatter began to build up shortly after the stern professor left and Ginny clutched Guin's hand tightly. Her already fair face had become deathly pale, causing her freckles to prominently stand out. Guin assumed that her face mirrored her sister's expression, though she, like her mother, didn't have any noteworthy freckles.

'You have quite the infestation of wrackspurts clouding your brain, Ginny,' Luna commented absentmindedly. 'It is a good idea to stand by Guin, she seems to be repelling them.'

When McGonagall returned, she ordered them to stand in a line the width of two people before marching them into the Great Hall. Guin took a moment to admire the ceiling her brothers had told her about, which reflected the stars back at her, before jogging slightly to keep up with her sister. She was too short to see whatever was waiting ahead.

The first years spread out into a small crowd again when they reached the end of the aisle and Guin was finally able to observe the small stool with an old hat perched on top.

'When I call your name, you will sit on the stool to be sorted!' McGonagall called out. 'Abernathy, Simon!'

A tall boy with curly brown hair shakily walked up and sat down. The Transfiguration professor placed the hat on his head. There was a pause.

'RAVENCLAW!'

The table to Guinevere's immediate right burst into applause and the Sorting continued in this fashion.

'Adams, Craig!'

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Aihara, Megumi!'

'RAVENCLAW!'

'Alexander, Leo!'

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Guin felt herself loosing focus until, finally, a familiar name was called:

'Creevey, Collin!' The small boy stumbled up towards the Sorting Hat, excitement radiating off him as he jammed it on his head in anticipation.

'Better be… GRYFFINDOR!' the hat yelled and Collin ran to the table to their immediate right after almost throwing the hat back at a highly offended looking Professor McGonagall.

It took a while longer for the first Slytherin, a pureblood by the name of Isabeau Flint, to be sorted and she was directly followed by Arietta Fudge, the niece of the Minister of Magic. Soon after that Luna Lovegood was placed in Ravenclaw- a surprise to Ginny but not to Guin, who thought she was much too odd to be placed anywhere else. When 'Wallace, Elizabeth!' was called her sister squeezed her hand in anticipation.

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

'Weasley, Ginevra!' There was a loud holler from Fred and George at the Gryffindor table as her sister walked forward. Guinevere was left standing alone to wait. She felt her knees begin to tremble. The hat barely touched her head before it cried: 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The applause that followed was almost deafening but quietened again in anticipation as her name was called. 'Weasley, Guinevere!'

Projecting a misleading aura of calm, Guin quickly sat down and felt the hat be placed on her head. It was so large that it fell down to cover her eyes.

 _Finally, the last Weasley… At least of this generation,_ a voice sighed in her head.

 _Are you the hat?_

 _Of course, unless you usually have others visiting your head…_ It fell silent for a moment. _How peculiar. I see plenty of courage here as well as a bright mind. You are loyal and possess similar qualities to your family._

 _Then… you'll place me in Gryffindor?_ She prompted.

 _No._

 _No?_

 _The secrets of your mind cannot hide from me, Guinevere Weasley. There is only one house that will draw out your true potential. I will place you in…_

'SLYTHERIN!' There was no following applause.

[break]

The Slytherin dormitories were located in the dungeons. This should have made them cold and unwelcoming, however, the gloom of their underground hideaway was greatly made up by the large windows that surrounded a quarter of the common room and looked out into the wonders that lay beneath the Black Lake. The common room itself was painted a deep emerald green and had black leather couches, along with tables to study on. When the prefects herded them in, their head of house, Severus Snape, was waiting for them in front of the stairs that led to their rooms.

'Congratulations in being sorted into Slytherin,' he began as they fell quiet. 'Slytherin has won the House Cup several years in a row now and I expect this same standard to be shown again this year. We are the house that takes pride in our ambition and cunning. To achieve our ambitions, we must be the best in all aspects and, hence, poor grades will not be tolerated nor will breaking the school rules and _being caught_. Against adversary we stand as a united front. If there is a dispute, it is handled in the safety of the common room, and the prefects will monitor this themselves. Aid each other and support each other and you all will reach greatness. Breakfast begins at seven tomorrow morning and classes begin at eight thirty. Good night.'

The professor left abruptly after that, his robes billowing after him, and the fifth year prefect who escorted them, Adamina Burke, instructed them to their rooms (the staircase on the right led to the girls dormitory, and it would have a sign with their year level on it). Weary and full from the events of the feast, the new Slytherins clambered up to their respective rooms to retire. Guin found her trunk placed against the bed nearest to the window that showed a dark section of the Black Lake. There were four girls sorted into Slytherin all together: Isabeau Flint, Arietta Fudge, Gardenia Parkinson and herself. They did not talk until each was settled under their covers.

'So… How did a Weasley get sorted into Slytherin?' Parkinson sneered, breaking the awkward silence between strangers, her button nose crinkling upwards unattractively. 'Shouldn't a blood traitor like you be in Gryffindor? Or were you _not worthy_?'

Guinevere decided that remaining impartial would be best in the situation. 'I am unsure at why I was sorted here, only that the hat said my potential would be wasted in another house.' She might have been twisting the truth a little.

'Potential, huh? A _blood traitor_ with _potential_?' She began to giggle loudly. 'Oh, how quaint!'

'There is no point in you judging whether or not Weasley has potential, Parkinson. Just wait how we do in our first lessons tomorrow, then you'll have the option to brag. Unfortunately for you, right now Weasley's blood is twice as pure as yours. She's descended from the Weasleys the Prewetts, you know, and her grandmother was a _Black_ ,' Arietta Fudge stated with a malicious smirk. Parkinson visibly flinched before huffing and drawing the curtains around her four-poster bed, obviously dismissing them.

Guinevere smiled thankfully at the blonde-haired girl who defended her before doing the same. It was not until none of her dorm mates could see her that she allowed herself to cry. She had never imagined that she would be in any other house than Gryffindor. Sure, she had always been less extroverted than her siblings, and was more prone to quiet introspection and reading alone instead of playing outside. But her older brother Percy was similar to her in that way, and he had been sorted into Gryffindor just as easily as Ginny was.

What 'greatness' did that stupid, old hat see in her that couldn't be found if she was sorted into Gryffindor? Considering the reputation of her new house, she wasn't sure that she wanted to find out.

[break]

All of the girls woke up early the next morning to prepare for a day of lessons. Their robes and uniforms had changed overnight to accommodate their new house. Guin found that the green trim certainly enhanced the red of her hair, however, clashed with her blue eyes. She established that morning that Parkinson remained typically stuck up, Fudge was usually neutral but held an intense hate for the short-haired girl and Flint was too shy (or too lazy) to get involved. In spite of this, their bickering ceased as soon as they exited the common room and instead they stuck together as they navigated their way to the Great Hall.

It was there, while piling pikelets onto her plate, that Guinevere received her first ever howler. Errol landed hazardously in a bowl of porridge before delivering the scarlet letter and leaving. Guin stared at it in shock and horror, knowing that it would be her mother scolding her (for what, she was unsure).

'Just open it, Weasley!' Fudge cried impatiently after the letter began to steam.

Flint nodded in agreement. 'You know it'll only be worse if you don't.'

Following their advice, she reluctantly peeled the letter open and watched as it rose into the air. The Great Hall grew silent in anticipation.

'GUINEVERE CEDRELLA WEASLEY!' her mother's voice began to bellow. 'HOW DARE YOU BE SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN! WHY, YOUR FATHER AND I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN WE READ RONALD'S LETTER!' Of course it would be her least favourite brother to rat her out. 'THIS IS AN UPMOST BETRAYAL TO THE VALUES OF OUR FAMILY! IF I HEAR ABOUT ANY FUNNY BUSINESS FROM YOU, I'M PULLING YOU OUT OF HOGWARTS IMMEDIATELY! AND ON THAT NOTE-' the letter suddenly flew across the room to land in front of the aforementioned brother- 'RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR? I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT _ANOTHER_ TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!' It seemed like not even his honesty on Guinevere's "betrayal" could save him as his face glowed to match his hair, and he sunk down into the bench in an effort to hide himself from his sniggering peers. The letter then turned to her twin sister, and said in a significantly nicer tone: 'And Ginny, dear, congratulations on making it into Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud.'

Staring down at the food that no longer seemed appetising, Guin found herself to be too much of a coward (no wonder she didn't get into Gryffindor) to face her dorm mates. Before she could leave and wallow in her shame, Fudge spoke up.

'How rude,' she huffed. 'Like Slytherin is a _bad_ house to be in. Everyone knows that all the greatest people have come from Slytherin!' _along with some of the worst._

There was a resounding 'Hear, hear!' around the table and, just like that, the howler was forgotten. A few Hufflepuffs, who sat adjacent to the Slytherin table, sent her sympathetic looks, but thankfully no one else seemed interested enough to mock her. Feeling happier than Guinevere thought she would, she left early with the three girls to find their classroom. According to the schedule Professor Snape had given them, their first class was Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws. A helpful portrait managed to point them in the right direction and they arrived early enough to get seats at the back of the room.

McGonagall began her lecture as soon as the bell rang. For the first half of the lesson, they took notes on the basic rules of Transfiguration before the professor waved her wand and a matchstick flew in front of them.

'Focusing your intent and using the spell we just learned, please attempt to turn your match into a needle. Please refer to the board again if you forget the pronunciation or wand movements.'

The class instantly got to work, excited to perform their first magic spell. Unfortunately, it proved to be much harder than anticipated. Guinevere's match turned silver, but she couldn't get it to actually change shape. She took a break to think it through, furrowing her brow.

A talent for transfiguration certainly required on a decent amount of magic ability. However, much of a successful spell relied on intent rather than prowess. One had to almost _wish_ the match to become a needle, similarly to how accidental magic occurred before the magical core stabilised. On that note, Guin straightened her posture and began to visualise the needle in her head- silver, tapered to a point at one end and round with a small hole on the other, it would be thinner than the match… _yes, much thinner…_

She took her wand out again and waved it accordingly. Slowly, the match wavered before sharpening into the needle she had imagined. At this moment, Professor McGonagall was doing rounds around the classroom and paused at her table.

'Why Miss Weasley, you've done it! One of the first in all my years to perform a transfiguration in the first lesson!' she cried, seemingly more shocked than she would have liked to let on. The other first years turned to face them and stared at the perfect needle in front of her. 'Twenty points to Slytherin! Well done!'

'Thank you,' she replied awkwardly, and spent the rest of the lesson patiently and subtly coaching her new housemates.

By the end of the first day, Guinevere found that she had a talent for both Transfiguration and Potions, however, found Charms mildly difficult and was hopeless at concentrating in History of Magic (in saying that, _everyone_ fell asleep during History of Magic). It was in Potions class that she tasted the isolation from her family that her sorting caused for the first time, as it was shared with the Gryffindors. When she attempted to sit next to her twin sister, a person she had rarely been away from since birth despite their differing personalities, she had found herself ignored and then rudely asked to move by her own flesh and blood. Ginny, perfect, Gryffindor Ginny, preferred to sit alone during the first lesson, as she had obviously not made friends with any of her dorm mates (Euphemia Jones, Josephine King, Rosalie Mayfair and Romilda Vane), rather than her Slytherin sister.

As time drew on, Guin became furthermore isolated from her family and much closer to her Slytherin counterparts. After a particular incident in Herbology, where they were grouped together to depot a flower with _fangs_ , the four snake girls set aside their differences and forged a tight bond for the rest of the year. Guin surprised herself when she found that she became closest to Isabeau Flint the most, of all people, as both preferred to sit back and watch Gardenia and Arietta argue rather than get involved.

The attacks on students seemed forever away in Slytherin. Unlike other houses, there were no muggleborn students and, therefore, none of them were worried so it was not discussed (other than a few jabs at Dumbledore's competency). When Guinevere was summoned to the Headmaster's office at the end of the year, she expected it to be about her awful grade in History. However, instead she found the majority of her family, with the exception of Ronald and Ginny, standing in various positions of stress and grief. It was then that she was informed that her sister, her _twin_ sister, had been taken by the monster in the chamber and no one had any idea how to save her. Upon sight, her mother grabbed her into a fierce hug and apologised for her previous prejudice. Perhaps she had realised that life was too short to worry about Hogwarts houses, but Guin wasn't holding her breath. She had spent the better part of a year completely separated from her family. In fact, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd spoken to someone who shared her blood. It felt strange to be embraced by them again after so long, and after they'd so quickly and callously excluded her.

This affection might have developed into a long awaited heart-to-heart had not Harry Potter burst into the room a few moments later, her brother and sister in toe. After explaining what had happened (Dumbledore did not seem surprised), he was embraced by practically every Weasley in gratitude. Ginny and Ronald were taken to the Hospital Wing, along with Professor Lockheart, to their shock, and Guinevere was dismissed to follow them, only to find her friends waiting in front of the gargoyle.

'Guin!' Arietta cried when she saw her. 'What happened? It couldn't possibly be about your grade- an A isn't even a fail! Both Isabeau and I did much worse than you!'

Gardenia scoffed. 'That's because all the two of you do during class is sleep.'

'Guinevere sleeps too!'

'Yes, and she still managed to pass so you have no excuse!'

'I-'

'Enough,' the redhead sighed. 'It had nothing to do with my grades. It was about family business.'

'Oh.' The three shrugged and Isabeau finally spoke. 'How boring. Shall we go back now, then?'

'I believe I'll be going with them to the Hospital Wing, so don't bother waiting. I'll see you all in the morning.'

'Fine, but we'll probably still be awake when you come in,' Isabeau replied with a shrug. They began to leave but Gardenia paused.

'By the way, Draco Malfoy was asking about you this evening. My cousin was furious.'

'Malfoy?' she repeated in surprise. The blonde boy was extremely popular in their house, but he had never given much attention to the year below him. 'What-'

'Guinevere! Come along now!' her mother called and she sighed.

'We'll talk in the morning. See you all later.' They left and she jogged to catch up with her family. It seemed their affectionate moment earlier was over, as they ignored her presence, too worried about the injured children. Guin trailed at the back of the group. When they came to a stop in front of the Hospital Wing, she attempted to reach out to Ginny and clutch her arm.

'Gin-'

'This was your fault!' her twin suddenly accused, making Guinevere step back.

'What are you talking about?'

'Tom Riddle did this to me and he was a Slytherin _just like you_. A nasty _snake_ won't trick me again! Stay away from me!'

She felt her calm facial expression crumble. 'Ginny…'

'You think you're so much better than me because you were sorted into Slytherin?' her sister continued to screech while the rest of their family (as well as Dumbledore, Potter and Madam Pomfrey) watched. 'Because you're the top of our year? Because you're friends with your dorm mates? You're not! You're just scum! People like you manipulate others to achieve your selfish agendas, and cause people like me to suffer. Stop acting so self-entitled all the time, no one actually likes you, they're just using-'

'Stop, Ginny!' Guinevere cried. 'You need to calm down, you've just been through an absolutely terrible ordeal, you need to rest and shouting at me isn't helping your nerves at all! You don't know what you're saying, I don't think I'm better than anyone else-'

'Yes you do! You probably celebrated on the inside, knowing I'd been taken, knowing one of your slimy Slytherins had _achieved his ambition_ -'

'You're _my twin sister_ Ginny!' she looked over at their bystanders for help, but no one spoke. 'I would never use you, you're my family and I love you. If I had known what you were going through I-I would've found help. But Gin, you need to understand that not all Slytherins are evil! I don't know who this 'Tom Riddle' person is or what he did to you, but being sorted into a house doesn't turn you into a villain! There are plenty of people from Slytherin who have done great good in the world-'

'Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot! All you snakes are the same, speaking in that conniving tone, trying to get me to trust you- well, I'm not naïve anymore!'

'That's quite enough,' Madam Pomfrey finally interjected, sensing that the argument wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. 'I'm not sure what the circumstance is here, but Miss Weasley you are obviously stressed and hurt. Please come in for treatment, along with you Mr Weasley and, of course, Mr Potter.'

The three complied with the nurse's orders, Ginny letting out a huff before marching away, and before Guin could follow with the rest of her family, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

'Guinevere, my dear girl,' Headmaster Dumbledore spoke sadly. 'Perhaps it would be best for you to return to your house common room.'

He didn't need to say anything else; the rest of his message was implied: _Your presence here would do more harm than good._

'Fine.' And she left.

[break]

A week later, after the farewell feast, Draco Malfoy approached her on the way back to the common room. Guin supposed that he was attractive in a cold way that was atypical of Slytherin house. His hair was perfectly gelled away from his aristocratic forehead and he walked with his back straight and proud. She thought he would look more handsome if he didn't have a constant pinched, superior look on his face. Eyes the colour of the sky before rain observed her apprehensively for a moment before he seemed to find what he wanted.

'Despite the situation of your family, your blood is as pure as mine,' he began, 'and you were the top of your year in two of the hardest subjects.'

She was unsure of how to reply to this so opted to wait for him to continue.

'My family finds you to be a suitable ally for the future. Your grandmother Cedrella Weasley, is my mother's distant relative, although she was disowned for marrying into your family. You are my third cousin or so and we believe that we can overlook your origins due to your potential.'

 _'There is only one house that will draw out your true potential.'_

Oh. She knew what he was implying- she had caught the attention of the pureblood society that had shunned her family for the past few generations. This was most likely because she came from two relatively pure families and was sorted into Slytherin, proving her nature to be "on their side." If she was to honour the political views of her family, she should reject his olive branch. However, if she had learned anything throughout the year it was that in Slytherin alliances were key to survival. She would be a fool to squander this opportunity to gain a better status with the upper years, and be safer from attack in the place that would now be her home for the majority of the year. There was no point in antagonising people that she had to see every day for six more years. Now, it was her turn to set the agreement of their truce, and suggest a way to maintain communication.

'I am flattered and accept your acquaintance, Draco.' She held out her hand. 'I would be happy to work together with you in the future. I believe you would benefit in some tutoring in Transfiguration and I would like advice in Charms as an exchange.'

He shook her hand firmly. 'Agreed. Next year, shall we meet on Wednesdays after dinner? In the common room, of course.'

'Yes, I will see you then. Have a nice summer, would you like me to write?'

'That would be appropriate. Enjoy your freedom before next year.'

They parted amicably, him back towards the Great Hall where he had left his friends, and Guinevere found her three friends waiting for her around the corner near the entrance to the common room. Gardenia and Isabeau were smirking at her whilst Arietta scoffed.

'That was the most awkward conversation I have ever heard! It didn't even sound like the two of you liked each other- you were just speaking sweetly out of obligation!' she cried, her confusion obvious. The Fudge family had only recently come into power due to her uncle's position in the ministry and, in turn, she was not as familiar with pureblood customs as the other three.

Guin shrugged. 'You must admit that it would be _advantageous_ to have him on our side, Ari. His family have a lot of sway in the ministry.'

'Yes, but he's still a bit of git.'

Isabeau interrupted before they could bicker more. 'We'll see next year. Promise you'll write this summer? I'd like to invite you all over too, hopefully Marcus will be away so we can have the manor to ourselves, I think he has a new girlfriend now… If you don't want to, that's fine…'

'Of course! Just owl, silly, and we'll all come!' Gardenia scolded. 'How could you think otherwise?'

'Yeah, I'll be there,' Guin agreed. 'I would invite you all to mine but…'

Arietta laughed genuinely. 'I don't fancy staying with your fifteen Gryffindor siblings, Guin. Sorry.'

' _Seven_ siblings, Ari. Not fifteen.'

'I was close.'

'You were out by eight, actually,' Gardenia pointed out.

'No one asked you, flower girl!'

Isabeau and Guinevere simultaneously rolled their eyes as the two argued back to the common room.

'Well,' her friend sighed, 'at least we can be sure that _one thing_ won't change next year. Those two will always argue.'

'Yes, but it's more like play fighting than anything else. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty glad this year is over. Hopefully the next will be much less eventful.'

'I doubt it, especially with Potter in the school,' she scoffed as the two of them left the bickering pair to enter the common room.

Guinevere snorted unattractively. 'Potter the _hero_. Well, that's if you're in any house other than Slytherin, of course. He didn't even bat an eyelash when my sister decided to accuse me of evil just because I wear the colour green.'

Arms looped around her neck from behind. 'Ah, you've finally come to the dark side, Guin! Only a true Slytherin can insult Saint Potter!' Gardenia laughed.

'A true Slytherin?' she murmured to herself as they walked in front of her. Perhaps she had changed this year more than she thought… It had to be inevitable, living with the same people for over nine months usually resulted in the picking up of common traits. However, she still hadn't decided if being a "true Slytherin" was a good or a bad thing yet.

Hopefully she could be one without losing her own self in the process.

 _Welcome to my Harry Potter fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Just a note: Guin is pronounced like 'Gwin' not 'Gwen'._


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling_

 _Edited 08/06/2018_

 **TWO: Second Year**

'I'm sorry Guinevere,' her father sighed, 'but your mother insists.'

'I understand.' She didn't really, however, she was sick of arguing. 'When will it be suitable for me to sleep in?'

'It will take another week to have the ghoul removed so for now you'll have to take one of the couches-'

'She can stay in my room with me,' Percy suddenly interjected. 'There's no point making her sleep on a couch in her own home when we have spare mattresses.'

The two turned to the tall red haired boy. 'Thank you, Perce.'

'No problem.' Percy had always been her favourite brother. Of all her siblings, he understood her the best (though that wasn't very hard as the others were opposite in personality) and was her constant companion before he left for Hogwarts. They had always had the same temperament and hobbies as children.

'Yes, well, the attic is actually much larger than the room you shared with Ginny. I'm sure you'll love it once it's cleaned up a bit, and you'll be able to decorate it yourself this time! In fact, I may ask your Uncle Ignatius if he has any interesting new knickknacks to spice up the area a bit…' her father cried enthusiastically, already drifting over to the desk where he wrote letters. 'I'll leave it to the two of you to sort out sleeping arrangements until then!'

Their Uncle Ignatius, who was actually their great uncle on their mother's side, was an eccentric Ravenclaw alumni who was prone to conducting experiments, much like the Weasley patriarch himself. When they were small he would be one of the few relatives to turn up to every holiday, always bringing some new (often useless, sometimes dangerous) invention to show off. Most of the Prewett family on Guin's maternal side had passed on, but Uncle Ignatius was still kicking at the ripe age of 76.

'Why exactly are you being moved to the attic?' Percy asked her as they set up the spare mattress on his bedroom floor.

'Ginny is too traumatised to sleep in the same room as me. She begins to tremble every time she sees me,' Guin admitted with a sigh. 'It's curious how she didn't seem to have much of a problem for the first week of holidays. This fear has seemed to turn up overnight.'

'Guinevere…'

'I know. She has every right to be scared after what happened. I'm just being unreasonable. But if she's the one with the problem, why do _I_ have to move rooms?'

'I don't think-'

'ARTHUR! OH ARTHUR, HOW WONDERFUL! CHILDREN! COME QUICKLY!' The six Weasley spawns that resided in the Burrow ran down to the living room after their mother's screech and found her clutching a letter and a bulging leather pouch.

'What's happened?' Ron asked.

'We've won the lottery!' was the reply. '700 galleons! Oh, we'll be able to visit Bill!'

They all instantly began to rejoice- they'd never even heard of that much money in their lifetime. Plus, a trip to Egypt, for the first time, was an exciting improvement of what they thought would be a relatively boring holidays.

'Now, now,' their father began, 'we'll have to check if we have enough to take us all there… but if we do, you'd all better start packing!'

The excitement in the Weasley household was permeable for the next few days, despite the amount of manual work taking place to make the attic liveable. The twins had already started packing (a single suitcase between them) and Ginny followed their mother around, begging her to alter some of her sun dresses. Guinevere shared their enthusiasm until her parents called her to their room one evening after dinner. They wore equal expressions of sympathy and guilt.

'Guinevere,' her mother began. 'We've encountered a bit of an issue.'

She frowned. 'What is it?' _And what does it have to do with me?_

'700 galleons is only enough to take seven of us to Egypt. Eight would be stretching it, as the portkey is 300 galleons alone to go outside of Europe, and then we have to pay accommodation...'

Guin felt her heart drop. She had been looking forward to finally leaving England for the first time, and thought seeing her eldest brother might help her reconnect with her family. 'Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. However, wouldn't it be wiser to save the money anyway? We've always had to find a way to make ends meet, but this way we could finally have some financial stability and money to fall back on. I know the others would understand, you don't have to worry about their reaction-'

'I'm afraid we can't do that, love,' interrupted her father apologetically. 'Your mother and I agree that Ginny needs this vacation to get over what happened in the school year. She still feels horrible and the sunshine in Egypt would do her some good, according to Dumbledore.'

Guin narrowed her eyes, dread growing in her heart. 'Then where exactly are you going with this?'

'We were wondering, dear, if you'd be able to stay with some of your new friends for the rest of the summer,' her mother said gently.

'I couldn't possibly infringe on them and their families for that long, we've only been friends for a year! Wait…' She stared at them in disbelief. 'You want to leave me behind?'

'Well, it's not quite like that, dear, we just feel like perhaps you'd want to stay in England so you're not away from Ariella and such,' _and we thought you were the least deserving to go with us._

'Her name is Arietta.' Guin felt her rage, and hurt, building and just when she was about to scream at them… she stopped herself. There would be no point. They had already decided regardless of her own feelings. Of all of her siblings, she was the one that caused Ginny the most pain to be around and, as they had said, this trip was meant to be a healing journey for her twin. Still, she knew that they probably immediately decided that Guin would be the one left out when they realised they didn't have enough money. It was an instinctual change in their family dynamic after her sorting that she had been trying to ignore, and now had been thrown straight in her face.

She was no longer considered an equal.

And just like that, all the fight went out of her and was replaced by a crippling sadness. 'Where will I stay for the rest of the holidays?'

'Your Uncle Ignatius has agreed to take you if you cannot stay with your friends. Lucretia (that vile woman) died a few weeks after you left for Hogwarts and he is quite lonely without her, I think,' said her mother, proving her point that they had already made up their minds. 'Would that be okay, dear? We'll bring back plenty of souvenirs and we'll be back before September 1st so we can take you to the station.'

Guin winced, imagining her family turning up at her uncle's doorstep, tan and beaming from their trip, uncaring that they had left her behind. She felt a peculiar coldness begin to creep into her heart. 'Don't bother as you will likely be tired from your journey. I'm sure Uncle Ignatius can apparate me. I'll leave tomorrow morning to his house by the floo... Have a nice holiday.'

'GUINEVERE!' She quickly left the room before they could shout at her for her disrespect. Her insides churned she made her way up the stairs, the unfairness of it all bringing traitorous tears to her eyes. She felt stupid for crying over people who obviously didn't care but she couldn't help it. For a while, she thought that things would be okay, and that her family had realised that just because she was a Slytherin, it didn't mean she had changed. She was wrong.

[break]

The next morning she dragged her trunk carrying the majority of her possessions down the stairs during breakfast. She didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone, bypassing the dining room where they were all eating rowdily, and instead flooed straight to Prewett Manor. There, she was met with a small house elf with large amber eyes.

'Young Mistress Guinevere, Maple is welcoming you to Prewett Manor!' it greeted her happily. 'Please leave your trunk here and Maple will take you to Master Ignatius!'

'Ah, alright.' She followed the elf down the hall and into a room that had bookcases against every wall, and only one small window to provide light. In the centre sat a man behind an ornate, but cluttered, mahogany desk whom she knew to be her uncle, Ignatius Prewett. He didn't look up when they entered until Maple cleared her throat.

'Master Ignatius, I is bringing the Young Mistress to you on her arrival!'

He looked up, startled, before smiling. 'Yes, thank you Maple. You're dismissed.' The elf disapperated with a loud crack. 'Welcome Guinevere, I must say I wasn't expecting you for another day or two.'

Guin noticed the dark bags under his eyes immediately, and assumed that he had found some new form of magic to obsess over. Her uncle had once been married to a prim woman named Lucretia Black, who Guin had only met a handful of times because her mother wasn't fond of her. The old woman had been stern but, perhaps, the only person who could drag her uncle from his research. It was obvious that after her death he had no one to hold him back anymore.

'I didn't see the point of staying at home.' A home in which I don't even have a room anymore. 'It made sense to settle here as soon as possible and not be around the chaos of my family packing.'

'Yes, I suppose that does make sense.' He smiled again. 'I'm afraid I've made a rather large breakthrough in my current project so I won't be much fun to be around. If you were a little older I would let you assist me… Ah, maybe in a year or so if your grades are good. For now, you'll have to find other ways to entertain yourself as I work.'

'That's fine… Will I be able to visit my friends? And use this library?' Guin glanced eagerly at the bookshelves surrounding her. It was likely a much more specialised collection than what was available at Hogwarts, with far rarer books that needed a higher level of understanding.

'There are some books you probably shouldn't read, but I shall not limit you if you're quiet.' His eyes twinkled like he knew she would search for these books first. 'You're also welcome to invite friends over if you stay away from my study and laboratory, but if you wish to leave to their house please inform me first. If you have any other questions, ask Maple as she is the head of the house elf staff. You can eat whenever you want during the day but I'd like you to have dinner with me in the evening.'

'Of course I will join you for dinner, I likely will be spending much of my time in this room.' She returned his easy smile, feeling less awkward than she thought she would. 'How do I make it to my room? And I'd like to have a tour of the house please, if it's not too much trouble.'

'The house elves will know of your arrival. Call Maple, or whomever else you become acquainted with, and they will show you around.' This was a clear dismissal, and Guin watched in amusement as her uncle's eyes drifted back to the parchment in front of him, only to jerk back towards her when he noticed what he was doing.

'Thank you.' Before leaving, she paused. 'And thank you for letting me stay here.'

'It's no problem at all. You are the daughter of my favourite niece.'

'My mother is your only niece.'

'If I had another, I assure you she would still be my favourite.'

Guinevere scoffed but allowed herself to grin largely at him. 'I believe I will enjoy my time here, Uncle Ignatius.'

'Indeed, I hope you do, little Enchantress.'

'I'm a bit old for that nickname now, Uncle.' The old man was referring to her name, Guinevere, after the medieval queen who revolutionised the healing system of the British wizarding world in the dark ages. Because she was often clad in the white robes of a healer, she was nicknamed the "White Enchantress." Guinevere was considered to be a legend among witches and wizards, comparable to Morgana la Fey. It was in memory of the great queen that her father named her, and her uncle had called her "little Enchantress" ever since.

'You shall never grow too old for it, my dear, as you will likely never grow much taller if you take after the Prewett side! Now, off you trot. I'm sure you'd like to inform your friends of your new living situation and arrange play dates.' Guin scowled at the childish term- she no longer had _play dates,_ they were _gatherings._ Her uncle turned back to his work, and she walked out into the hallway again. Maple and another elf were waiting for her.

'Young Mistress! Lossy is Young Mistress' personal house elf!' the new elf cried before Maple could speak, bowing so low that her long nose brushed against the polished floor.

'Er, pleased to meet you… I was wondering if my uncle is in possession of an owl? Also, where will I be sleeping?'

'Maple will bring the owl to Young Mistress's room,' the larger elf said. 'Lossy will take Young Mistress to her quarters.'

'Lossy will! Follows Lossy, Young Mistress!' The two elves went in opposite directions and Guinevere followed the blue-eyed one down the hall, away from Uncle Ignatius' study.

'If it's not too much trouble Lossy, could you please give me a tour of the manor once I have sent my correspondence?'

'Lossy would be honoured, Young Mistress!' the elf bowed again mid step, almost toppling over and face planting. Guin struggled to hold her laugher.

Incidentally, she ended up having a small wing of the manner to herself. She should not have been surprised, as the ancestral home of the Prewetts was quite large for only her uncle to be living in it, and he was not the type of man to receive many guests. Likely, in his death, this place would pass on to her brother Bill as the closest male heir.

Her actual room was large (as large as the dining room in the Burrow) and painted a calm periwinkle blue. The furniture was mahogany and the rest of the space was decorated with white accents. Although not to her specific taste (it was all very Ravenclaw), Guin had to admit that it was quite lovely and she would enjoy staying in it. Just as she settled on the bed, Maple appeared with a disgruntled-looking owl perched on her arm.

'Young Mistress, this is Greta. Greta will send notes for Young Mistress. Young Mistress should calls Lossy when she is ready for her tours.'

'Yes, thank you Maple.' The elf disapperated and Guin pulled out the letters she had written at the Burrow the previous night, one addressed to each of her friends- including Draco.

'Hello Greta, could you please deliver these?' The owl glared at her but took flight after she tied them. 'Thank you!'

[break]

Her holidays significantly improved from that moment onwards. The manor was large and had a plethora of hidden rooms, full of dust and old relics, including a grand piano that Guin had no idea how to play, but she enjoyed smashing around on the keys regardless. Guinevere was free to invite her friends over as much as twice a week, not counting when she travelled to their houses instead by the floo, and they spent their time sunbaking and gossiping outside in the backyard that always seemed to have perfect weather. She was given a generous allowance for the first time in her life, so when the foursome went shopping she was able to buy a new wand, packing away the hand-me-down one from her mother, as well as casual and school robes. However, the majority of her holiday was spent sitting in a plush armchair, big enough for her to curl up in, that had been placed in her uncle's office. There, she would devour book after book on a variety of different topics recommended to her.

She had been enjoying herself so much that by the time her family returned from Egypt, on the 31st of August, she was reluctant to return to them.

Uncle Ignatius personally dropped her off with her trunk at the Leaky Cauldron to meet with the rest of the extremely tanned and freckled Weasleys, along with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, where they would spend the night before heading to the train station the next morning. He seemed to exchange a few words with her father before kissing her forehead and departing.

'Is that new?' Ron immediately asked afterward, gesturing towards her trunk. She didn't bother lying and wasn't particularly surprised that he noticed. In a family with eight siblings all clambering to own something just for themselves, they had all evolved to have sharp eyes for new things they could possibly claim or steal.

'Yes.'

He instantly blew up. 'Why do you get a new trunk? I'm older!'

'Because I didn't get to go to Egypt,' was the only reply she could think of to keep the peace, and she thought it was rather justified. After all, her new trunk certainly didn't cost the 700 galleons the other Weasleys had blown on their trip, leaving barely a knut to be saved up. Her brother grudgingly accepted, though he still looked envious, and left with his friends into Diagon Alley without another word to her.

Guinevere would be sharing with both Hermione and Ginny, sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor since there were only two beds and her family didn't have enough money to rent another room (again, barely a knut left in their Gringotts vault because of the holidays). She left her trunk beside the pile and wandered into the alley to meet her friends for ice cream, not bothering to tell her parents since they seemed to be in an intense conversation.

And just like that, her true holiday had ended.

[break]

Guinevere followed her family into the ministry vehicles, provided to transport their precious cargo (Saint Potter) to Kings Cross Station. She sat between the twins because her sister still cringed when she was in her general vicinity- although, that aversion to her didn't stop Ginny from trying to look through the new clothes Uncle Ignatius had bought her in her trunk, not that she managed to open it with all the locking charms. Her hands wrung together anxiously in anticipation of seeing her friends and escaping the atmosphere around her. The twins were usually jolly. Before her sorting, they would spend hours trying the force a laugh out of their stoic sister. Now they ignored her, staring out of their respective windows or conversing like she was invisible. Perhaps she should have tried to communicate with them- show them that a year in Slytherin _didn't_ turn you into a crazy death eater- but she just felt _tired_. After a summer of being ignored not matter how hard she tried to connect with them, swept aside like a bug and then apologised to (for her mother had sent her a letter outlining her remorse, she didn't want her to feel excluded, Guin was her baby, after all), the whiplash was too much for her. She couldn't wait to be back in the home she had found in the Slytherin common room.

Spotting Draco on the platform, she immediately split from the Weasleys with a quick kiss to her mother's cheek to follow him into a compartment. With each step away from them, she felt her confidence growing again. Around her fellow Slytherins she was understood and wanted, unlike with her family who seemed to only tolerate her due to their familial connection. Pansy Parkinson, the much wealthier cousin of Gardenia, was already there with a simpering smile on her face. She instantly began to compliment Draco on his robes, his hair and his general existence. It took all of Guin's willpower not to laugh as she took out _Magical Drafts and Potions_ , the Potions book used universally throughout the first five years at Hogwarts. The relationships between the students in her year and the year above had started to change now that they were a bit older, and she had her friends had definitely started noticing the boys around them. However, none were quite as obvious in their admiration than Pansy.

'Draco,' she interrupted the show. 'I have a question on general sleeping potions.' She held up the book and displayed the page that detailed the importance of pH balance in administering sleeping potions. Although that particular branch of Potions wouldn't be explored until at least her fifth year, it was in second year that the curriculum began the introduction to the delicacy needed when administering more than one potion. In the case of sleeping potions, it was well known that they could react volatilely when in contact with acidic ingredients, since they were usually a firmly basic substance. However, Guin was finding it hard to understand how the decrease in pH affected the potion, since usually a change in a constant factor like that would only cause the potion to become ineffective, and not dangerous (such was the case for healing potions).

Draco pushed Pansy away to get a closer glimpse at the pages she displayed before a cocky smirk spread across his face. 'Well, you won't find a greater well of information on this from anyone else, I'm the best in my year, you know, and Professor Snape's favourite student.'

'I believe the student with the highest grade in Potions last year was Granger, Draco, not you,' a voice sneered from the sliding door into the compartment. A dark-skinned boy stood in the entryway with a sardonic smirk on his face. As the train finally began to move, he sat next to Guin and reclined leisurely.

'The mudbood doesn't count Zabini, she has no place in our society after Hogwarts,' was Draco's reply, his nose high in the air. Guin frowned internally- she certainly wasn't Granger's biggest fan, she found her to be annoying and conceited, not unlike most Gryffindors, but she found Draco to be unnecessarily harsh. 'Anyway, you are just jealous that no one is coming to you for _your_ wisdom on a subject, which isn't surprisingly considering your grades. Guinevere, this is Blaise Zabini.'

The offhanded introduction took her by surprise for a moment before she held out her hand to the boy next to her. 'Guinevere Weasley, second year.'

'Blaise Zabini, third year. Pleasure to meet the under year's top student.' They shook hands but didn't move to make any other conversation. Guin rose from her seat just as another older Slytherin boy entered the compartment, this one tall and lanky like her brother, but with dark brown hair. The small space was quickly becoming overcrowded.

'I should probably look for my friends, Draco, for they have surely already found a compartment. Perhaps we can arrange another time for you to answer my questions.'

'Of course, Guinevere. I also have some business to attend to.' He followed her out of the compartment but marched in the opposite direction, Crabbe and Goyle alongside him. She would've bet her whole allowance from Uncle Ignatius that he was stalking off to find and antagonise her brother and his famous friend.

After fifteen minutes of searching, she found Isabeau and Gardenia in a compartment towards the front of the train. Both greeted her with adequate enthusiasm, informing her that Arietta was in the bathroom fixing her hair. From then on the train ride was pleasant. Guin felt like a weight had finally gone from her shoulders. She was at home among these people, she was completely comfortable in their presence.

The journey to Hogwarts was fine except for a moment where the train stopped unexpectedly and the windows frosted over. None of the second years were able to figure out the cause of the delay, though Gardenia was adamant that the engine must have stopped, along with the heating (though, Guin thought, that didn't excuse the fact that it was suddenly freezing when a few minutes before the weather had been lovely and mild, especially for September). Thus, it came as a shock when, while sharing a carriage with some fourth year Slytherins, they were informed that a dementor had been given permission to search the train just before they reached Hogsmeade. Guin, Gardenia and Isabeau were appropriately horrified while Arietta attempted to defend her uncle's strange and dangerous decision.

From then, the night was dark and dreary. The headmaster was solemn in his address and the half giant who hadn't even _graduated school_ , according to a few of the upper years, had somehow become a teacher. The whole thing was ludicrous, despite how kind hearted Rubeus Hagrid was. Guin was pretty sure that he didn't even know proper grammar, or at least not on a level where he would be able to properly grade essays.

Classes began the next day and Guin found herself falling into an easy, familiar routine. Most of the material for second year was built off of the first year, pretty much following on from the basic magical theory they were subtly being introduced to. In Transfiguration they moved from using inanimate objects as subjects to live creatures, like beetles. In Herbology they were allowed into far more dangerous greenhouses and had a greater amount of practical work in comparison to the year before. Potions was unchanged, though the ingredients they used perhaps required more preparation, like cutting precisely, and Charms was very similar. History of Magic and Astronomy remained stagnant.

The only class that changed dramatically was Defence Against the Dark Arts. From having Lockheart as a teacher the year before, who only allowed them to act out the scenes from his books and never permitted the use of their wands, Professor Lupin was a breath of fresh air. In fact, their first lesson was also their first ever practical, where he taught them _flipendo_ , a spell that knocked people backwards when enough power was put behind it.

'This spell doesn't necessarily do a lot of damage, however, if you ever need a quick escape (or even want to trip someone you dislike, though I know you all are much too responsible to do such a thing) _flipendo_ is a perfect distraction,' Lupin informed them as they stood against the back wall of the DADA classroom. 'Now, for the next two lessons we will work on mastering this spell. After we will begin our work on an introduction to magical creatures, a subject I hope you will all enjoy.'

Guin had found that her prowess in Transfiguration did translate well into DADA, unlike Charms which she still had trouble with. It only took her three tries before she accidently blasted Isabeau into the opposite wall.

Lupin had taken her aside after the display and quizzed her on whether such incidents were a regular occurrence.

'I believe, Miss Weasley, that your magical core is very developed for your age. Although this can be perceived as a good thing, because it means that the more powerful spells you will soon learn will come easily to you, it is also a double edged sword. You have issues with charms because those spells do not require very much magic at all, hence you overpower them when you try. My close friend had a similar issue when he first started learning at Hogwarts. My advice to you is to experiment with your magical core, which can be done through meditation…'

He referred her to a book in the library and wished her luck. Guin couldn't help but reflect on how strange it was to have a competent teacher who paid attention to the issues their students were having. She hoped Lupin would stay longer than one year, despite the fact that his robes were shabby and he looked sickly.

Unfortunately, her peace was disrupted when the weekend came and Ginny decided that her poor Slytherin sister needed to be reminded that she was destined for evil. This occurred during a chance encounter on the way to the owlery, where Guin planned to send a letter to her uncle, with both girls being alone together.

'Don't come too near me, I might catch your sickness,' her sister said with a disgusted expression as they almost collided on the way up the stairs. 'Who are you sending a letter to anyway? No one in the family wants anything to do with a slimy Slytherin. Your kind belong down in the dungeons and should just stay there.'

'I've never done anything to you, Ginny,' Guin replied softly, staring down at her feet. 'If you can't stand the sight of me because of my house placement, please just leave me alone.'

'I can't believe that I never noticed your true colours, you know,' Ginny continued conversationally, like Guin hadn't even spoken. 'We shared a room for eleven years as well as a womb nine months before that. You'd think I'd know everything about you, but you really were a cunning bitch, huh? Very fitting for Slytherin. You're the shame of the family, Guinevere. A freak. Don't bother coming home for Christmas, okay? Or ever, really.'

'Ginny, you don't really mean that. I'm your twin sister and despite what you think I haven't changed at all. I've never concealed anything from you!'

'All you Slytherins are just liars. Tom Riddle talked just like you, you know. None of you can be trusted.' The taller redhead shrugged her shoulders and turned back down the stairs. 'I'll deliver my letter to Mum and Dad later, I wouldn't want to be near you in such a close, isolated space…'

'Ginny…' Guinevere whispered as she left, and felt herself deflate. A small part of her had always believed that out of everyone, her twin would be the one to accept her as a Slytherin. Apparently it was all just wishful thinking and her relationship with her sister really was over.

To make matters worse, when she finally reached the owlery she found none other than Harry Potter standing there with a guilty look on his face. He blinked at her once, looked like he was going to say something and then glanced away. The two students tied their letters to their owls (she was borrowing a school one) in silence, and he left as quickly as he could when he was done. Guin stared down at her hand thoughtfully and wondered how it was possible that a decision from an old hat had somehow made her disgusting to at least one quarter of the school's population, including her family.

She skipped dinner that day in favour of strolling along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, a couple of roast sandwiches clutched in her hands. It was freezing, but that was probably because of the dementors instead of the actual weather, though winter was nearing. Just as she sank her teeth into the combination of bread, lamb and gravy, a small whimper came from the bushes near her.

When she turned around, she found a large, shaggy black dog timidly staring at her from between the leaves. Guin was unsure if dogs usually inhabited the Forbidden Forest, but brushed it off considering something much worse could have emerged, like a werewolf. Tentatively, she lay one of the halves of her sandwiches on the ground a foot in front of her. The dog stared at it for a moment before pouncing, practically inhaling the small meal. It was then that she noticed how skinny it- he- was, his ribs in plain sight despite his thick coat.

After the majority of her two sandwiches had been eaten by the dog, it seemed much happier and sociable, following Guin as she continued her trek towards the Black Lake. He seemed almost disappointed when she informed him that it was time for her to go back to the castle, since it was starting to grow dark and she was wary of the soul-sucking creatures drifting around, even if they were meant to stay far from the castle.

[break]

From then on Guinevere met up with the dog, who she had decided to name Blackberry (despite the animal's incredulous look, sometimes she thought he was way too intelligent), at least twice a week. She found it surprisingly therapeutic to (finally) complain about her situation to someone who couldn't talk back, and call her a slimy Slytherin. In fact, at times she almost felt like Blackberry sympathised with her.

Just like the year before, she found that the strange things that were happening at Hogwarts regarding Sirius Black were miles away. Perhaps it was because she wasn't directly involved, or because Slytherin wasn't hyped about the news of the break ins and sightings since they had nothing to fear. Her life seemed to go on despite the fact that Sirius Black was apparently around every corner. She had Draco tutor her in Potions when he wasn't antagonising Saint Potter, she practiced meditation like Professor Lupin suggested and found her spell work improve in Charms, she hung out with her friends and she did her homework. The only disruption to her routine was the one night the whole school slept in the Great Hall after Black broke in the first time.

The school year between 1993 and 1994 was completely ordinary to Guinevere Weasley… until the 6th of June, 1994.

On that night, Guin had snuck out of the Slytherin dormitories after being unable to fall asleep. The short distance from the entrance of the dungeons to the doors outside made it easy for students in the snake house to leave undetected. She skidded around the grounds, avoiding Hagrid's Hut and the Black Lake in favour of a small glen on the side of the castle that was almost always overlooked. The stars were bright and all was still, since almost everything was asleep at midnight, even the creatures of the Forbidden Forest.

She was able to sit on the grass and enjoy the moonlight for around thirty minutes before the peace was destroyed by the strange sound of beating wings. Suddenly, a great creature landed in front of her, with the head of an eagle and the body of a horse. Guin scrambled backwards, staring in awe and fear. Her luck, she concluded, must have run out and she had finally encountered a beast from the Forbidden Forest that would kill her.

However, her fear kicked up a notch when she noticed a tall figure climb off the back of the monster. He was dressed in tattered grey robes and he had matted hair that reached just past his shoulders. Sickly eyes the colour of steel stared straight at her as the man stepped closer, and Guin finally recognised him.

'… Sirius… Bla…ck?' she mumbled, completely confused. How, and why would _Sirius Black_ , of all people, appear in her clearing? What were the odds?

Perhaps the Slytherin scarf around her neck would save her? Black was a deatheater, after all, even if he had been a Gryffindor.

'Guinevere,' he said, and she blinked in surprise.

'How do you know my name?' Her body seemed to finally catch up with her brain and she grabbed her wand, pointing it straight at the man in front of her. The only spells she knew that would be of any help were _flipendo_ and _petrificus totalus_ , neither of which would be enough to even jostle him.

'Don't be afraid.'

 _Don't be afraid?_ What on earth was he talking about?

'I'm not going to hurt you, Guinevere. I've been talking to you all year, remember?'

She certainly _did not_ remember talking to a raging psychopath all year. Definitely not. Her facial expression must have shown her scepticism because the raging psychopath in question let out a hearty laugh.

'Of course, you only know me as my other form… Blackberry. Which is a horrible and embarrassing name, by the way, not to mention completely unoriginal.'

Guin gaped at the madman standing across from her. 'Blackberry is a _dog_.'

'I should be offended but technically I am part dog at least.' And then, before she could say or do anything, Sirius Black suddenly changed before her eyes… into a very familiar dog.

And her brain stopped working.

'Okay. Blackberry is an animagus. Sirius Black in an animagus. I've been complaining about inane teenage problems to an escaped murderer all year. And now he's probably going to kill me because he had to put up with all my blabbering. Bloody hell, bloody hell, bloody hell-' Her hands reached up to grip her hair, blue eyes wide in absolute shock.

'I'm innocent!' Black managed to shout over her crazed chatter. 'I'm not going to kill you, I've never killed anyone in my life!

'You didn't kill like fifteen muggles and a short, fat wizard?'

'No, I did not!'

'And what proof exactly do you have?'

His face fell. 'None… anymore.'

She let out a loud, long sigh. 'So, you would like me to believe that you are innocent, despite the fact that you've been by my side pretty much this whole year without revealing yourself like some sort of creeper, and you have no evidence at all?'

'You have to believe me,' was his simple reply. 'You're my friend, right? You told me I was your friend.'

'I told _Blackberry_ he was my friend.'

'Look, I don't have much time! I have to leave before they find me. Please, Guinevere, I understand everything you've ever complained about to me. The sorting, the family issues, the overpowered magic, I went through the exact same thing when I started at Hogwarts! Believe me, I'm innocent. I fought against Voldemort in the war and I'll do it again if he ever returns! Harry (Harry Potter that is, you know him right?) and your brother, Ron, they know all about me! You can just ask them to know that I'm innocent.'

There was a small, tense silence before Guin made up her mind. 'Show me your left arm.'

'What?' He blinked widely in confusion.

'Show me your left arm! Your forearm!'

The Azkaban escapee slowly pushed the sleeve of his cloak up until it displayed the clear, white skin beneath. 'And what purpose, exactly, does this have?'

'You don't have the dark mark. You… weren't a deatheater, were you? Just another stupid Gryffindor who got in over his head during the war, huh?'

'Yeah… Just a stupid Gryffindor.'

She took in a deep breath. 'Okay then.'

'You… believe me?' He began to grin widely. 'So I can write to you?'

'Well, it's a bit creepy for a forty-year-old man to write to a twelve-year-old girl but I guess you can, since we're friends and all. But, I expect the full story from you soon.' She paused. 'Thank you for coming to explain to me before leaving instead of just disappearing. I would have worried if Blackberry just left, Merlin knows he's not very good at feeding himself. Much like a small toddler, I think.'

'That hurt, Guinevere. That hit me right in the heart.' Sirius laid a hand over his breast dramatically. 'And I'm 33!'

She rolled her eyes. 'Whatever, that's still ancient. Hurry up and go, old man, before the dementors come and we both get arrested. Don't forget to send me a letter about the true story once you arrive at wherever you're going. And please, take a shower and cut your hair.'

'Yes ma'am. I shall depart.'

He sent her a look that was strangely reminiscent of Blackberry when she was about to leave, a look full of sadness and loneliness that was immediately covered by a smile. Sirius Black had spent practically a whole year with her and he had never attacked her, or been even close to attacking. Merlin, she had even begun contemplating plans to smuggle him to her uncle's to keep as a pet! Guin wasn't sure what the whole story was, but even though she was a Slytherin she still had Gryffindor moments. At that particular time, her Gryffindor side believed that she could trust him. So she did.

'See you later old man. Have fun flying that monstrous beast, looks very comfortable.'

'Like sitting on a cloud after Azkaban, I assure you. Expect a letter soon.'

'Looking forward to it.' With that, the creature rose into the air and Sirius Black disappeared over the horizon.

And Guinevere Weasley went to bed, wondering if it was all just a strange dream and she would wake up the next day to find Blackberry waiting for her at the edge of the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling_

 _Edited 08/06/2018_

 **THREE: Third Year**

The summer following her second year was spent between Flint Manor and Prewett Manor. Guin only stayed long enough at The Burrow to set up her new room in the attic, which she awkwardly had to climb up a rickety ladder in the middle of the narrow corridor to enter. She was surprisingly inspired by her room at her uncle's and painted the walls an airy light blue, and the vaulted ceiling white. It made the room look even bigger and less gloomy. A double bed was pressed against the back wall and the other side of the room was converted into a cosy little reading nook, with a window seat covered in plush white, yellow and blue pillows. She funded her extensive decorating with the remainder of her allowance from last summer, which she had diligently saved up.

After it was complete, it became known that both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger would be visiting and staying until the Quidditch World Cup. As had become the norm, her father had given her invite over to Granger because "she would likely enjoy the experience more, love, and you were saying it was a waste of Ministry money just the other week!" Her two oldest brothers, whom she hadn't seen in around three years, would also be home at the time. This meant that the Burrow would suddenly become much more loud and crowded. Although Guinevere now had her own space from the rest of the family, she still would have to share a bathroom with _nine other people_. In short, she was packed and over at her uncle's before the guests had even arrived.

Deep down, she suspected that she had just been looking for any excuse to leave. Not because her family was treating her horribly, but because she was a truly selfish creature at heart. She enjoyed the lifestyle she had when she stayed with Uncle Ignatius. There were no siblings that she had to share with, a big array of books she had access to and altogether she was free to do as she pleased with very little rules.

In fact, this summer her uncle deemed her old enough to even help him with his research. He had moved on from his previous project, which had created a strange potion that, when ingested, cured hiccups- though, she believed that wasn't her uncle's initial intention for it. Now, he was deep in a new love affair with the mind arts.

Her great uncle, she found, had an extremely obsessive personality and constantly strived to understand the greater workings of the world. While Guin wanted to become more knowledgeable to increase her own power over other people and situations, Uncle Ignatius simply wanted to know everything just because he could.

When she entered his study after situating her trunk into her room (and it was her room now- she'd even hung up pictures of her and her friends that stayed there permanently) she found him surrounded by books, but in a strange meditative posture. She knocked on his desk when he didn't stir after she called his name.

'Oh, you've arrived little Enchantress!' he cried after blinking a few times. 'I thought you were coming on Tuesday?'

'It is Tuesday, Uncle.'

He gasped in shock. 'Is it really?' Guin watched in amusement as he scrambled towards a calendar wedged between two thick tomes, letting out a cry of despair when he saw the date. 'I've left my calming draught on the fire one day too long!'

The 77 year old sprung up from his chair in alarm and rushed past his niece, who following him down to his laboratory where the practical side of his experiments took place. Luckily, it seemed that the potion he had forgotten about hadn't exploded in his absence, but it was certainly a much darker shade of blue than it should be. Her uncle let out a cry of frustration when he saw it.

'I've been working on this for weeks!;

'Why?' Guin enquired with a grin. 'Are you in need of some calming, Uncle?'

He rolled her eyes at her subtle joke. 'I thought that taking a table spoon before meditation would help me learn Occlumency. I just can't seem to quieten my mind long enough to even start building defences around it!'

Guin wasn't surprised at this admission, her uncle was the type that had a million thoughts going at once. 'Well, perhaps if you add a bit more powdered moonstone it will increase the pH enough to lighten the colour, though I fear you will have to be more careful with dosing if you do because extra moonstone will make it much more potent.'

The old man nodded in agreement. 'Yes, I will most likely have to half the dosage but at least I won't have to make it again- it takes over a week!'

She carefully assisted him by keeping the cauldron temperature consistent as he added the iridescent powder to the potion, which became a more sky blue colour (which was still not the light blue of a normal brew). It seemed like it was good enough for her uncle though, who happily bottled the potion up and brought it with him back to his study. On the way, he chatted with her about his plans for the summer.

'I seem to have no talent for Occlumency, which isn't surprising because if I did I would not be so forgetful all the time-'

'That may just be your age, Uncle.'

'-but wouldn't it be marvellous if I did? And, of course, Legilimency is generally something a wizard or witch is or isn't born with so I won't be making any progress there either. However, I read in the paper that a man from Yemen is selling a treatment that grants the recipient the ability to read minds! Naturally, it's a complete scam but, it got me thinking and I really do believe that we could alter the spell one usually uses for Legilimency and make it more user friendly.'

'Is that really wise? It could be used for the wrong intentions,' she tried to caution.

'It is all in the name of knowledge, my dear. I certainly won't advertise the spell once I've discovered it! It'll simply give me piece of mind that I know how to do it.'

'If you're sure, Uncle. So why are you looking up Occlumency?'

He let out a loud, triumphant laugh. 'Well, it wouldn't be fun to just alter the normal Legilimency spell! I want _my_ spell to be able to resist Occlumency as well. Plus, it certainly seems like a useful skill to know.'

Guin truly had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but she figured that if her uncle wasn't planning on selling the spell, if he could even create one, then it _would_ be a useful skill to have in her arsenal. 'Well, Uncle, I believe I will be at your disposal for the rest of July. In August I plan on staying at my friend Isabeau's for a few weeks before heading to the Quidditch World Cup with her and my friends, who got me a ticket.'

'That is the Flint girl, yes? I went to school with her grandmother, lovely lady who was also a Ravenclaw. Though she didn't compare to my Lucy, of course.' He seemed to look away into a different time for a moment, before returning back and looking at Guin fondly. 'I believe we shall work on learning Occlumency together then! You can also help me with cataloguing the many books I've bought on the mind arts these past few months.'

Hence, for the first half of her summer Guin catalogued for her great uncle, recording the sources of information he had found and organising his research. They both started from the very basics before beginning the actual experimentation with the Legilimency spell (aptly named _legilimens_ ). In her free time, Guin began the first step to forming a wall around her mind, building magic in the point of her consciousness.

Occlumency was, at the very fundamentals, a "barricade" of magic that would shield the mind from those who were able to practice the opposite branch of the mind arts: Legilimency. Therefore, before one could even attempt clearing the mind and starting the construction of the blockade, they had to build up the necessary amount of magic to make it, which was done through extensive meditation. Of course, it had been discovered in the early 20th century that Occlumency could also be used to organise the mind and memories, but that was an advanced skill that few could successfully accomplish.

Guin and her uncle spent the month of July in deep meditation for five hours per day, with the help of their concentrated calming draught. Although she had some experience due under the tutoring of Professor Lupin the school year prior, she had never managed to actually manipulate her core, only influence the magic in her blood to flow in smaller amounts to her wand. During that time, it took over two weeks to _recognise_ her magical core, and then another to begin attempting to move a large amount of extra magic to her mind specifically. Unsurprisingly, Guin found that she also had no innate talent at shifting some to stay and build up around her mind. It was altogether very frustrating, and by the time she left for Isabeau's she had made very little progress.

Flint Manor was located just outside of Liverpool and bordered the beach. It was a gothic mansion with a dark, luxurious décor, and had a whole room dedicated to objects tainted with dark magic that was locked at all times. Guin and Isabeau spent their days there more outside than inside, surprisingly, as the Flints owned an impressive collection of horses that were available to be ridden. It was a surprisingly muggle practice, but she didn't comment on it and instead enjoyed riding around the shrubbery just before the beach. She grew very tan very quickly.

On the day of the Quidditch Cup, the two girls and Isabeau's brother woke early in the morning and Marcus, who was seventeen and repeating his last year at Hogwarts that September, apparated them to the campsite. It was only the third time Guin had seen the boy for her whole stay (she had been at Flint Manor for around 25 days) as he usually kept to his own wing of the mansion. He smirked at her with crooked teeth, mentioned her success in academics as she was first in her year in four subjects, and then tugged at Isabeau's hair before leaving.

They met Arietta and Gardenia at the plot of land they had rented for the occasion, their tent already set up by Mr Fudge, Arietta's father and the brother of the Minister of Magic. The adults, minus Guin and Isabeau's family, would be staying in the tent directly across from them.

Once settled, the four girls decided to explore the camp grounds, narrowly avoiding an awkward exchange with Guin's brother Ron and his two friends, before finding their fellow Slytherins. The girls were not close to the boys in their year, who were a rather quiet lot themselves, however, Guin had built a steady friendship with her cousin Draco during the school year prior.

For Guinevere, who was not necessarily interested in quidditch but enjoyed flying when she was in the mood, the game itself went quickly and incomprehensibly. The four girls returned to their tent, happy that Ireland had won but, for all but Arietta, who was a surprisingly diehard fan, confused as to how they accomplished it. It was Mr Fudge who awoke them that night, quickly apparating them away as the chaos began. Guin was not able to learn what had truly occurred until the day after, where it was plastered all over the papers.

It was on that day that she received a frantic letter from her mother, which begged her to return home in light of the recent events. Resigned, Guin bid farewell to her friends and informed her uncle that she would not be able to return to help him research.

[break]

The Burrow was even more frantic and chaotic as usual when she returned through the floo. There seemed to be people bursting out of every room as the house tried to accommodate all twelve of them. Her older, often absent brothers greeted her warily, obviously unsure of how to talk to her, having last seen her when she was still a child. The rest of her siblings ignored her.

Before she could reach her room and put away her trunk, she was smothered by a hug from her mother and father. It was obvious that they had worried she had been hurt during the attack, which was ridiculous because she had been hanging out with, according to them, the most likely perpetrators. Even so, she was pleased that they seemed to care, especially when she was promised her favourite food for dinner that night. Her mother had many flaws, but her cooking was not one of them. The expensive cooks her friends hired never seemed to compare.

The rest of the holidays were spent hiding in her room from the passive-aggressive hostility she was received in the main part of the house, and working on her Occlumency. She had, barely, managed a flimsy wall by the end of August, which had taken her longer than the average amount of time. According to her uncle, he managed to successfully build a wall not long after she left for Isabeau's, half the time it took her. However, she was not discouraged. Just because she didn't have an aptitude didn't mean that she wouldn't improve in the future.

On the morning of September 1st, she experienced a moment of déjà vu as she awoke early (as she always did when she had something important the next day) and awkwardly ran into the boy wonder himself in the living room. In that moment, she wondered if Merlin was laughing at her from Avalon- was fate truly so cruel?

To prevent an uncomfortable conversation, Guin immediately turned around after they locked eyes with the intention of leaving the room, but Potter's voice stopped her.

'Do you dislike me?' It was surprisingly timid, his voice. Definitely not suited for the Boy-Who-Lived.

'Why would you think that?' she replied before thinking it through. She really wanted to avoid this conversation. Harry Potter had never been a close friend of hers, in fact, this might have been the third time they'd spoken? Or the fourth?

'You just seem to avoid me a lot.'

 _Well, no shit._ She turned to face him. 'You're the Gryffindor saviour, bold and brave and just. I'm the first Weasley to be sorted into Slytherin in over three centuries. _Why_ would we not avoid each other?' _Why are you even speaking to me?_

He seemed to shift around nervously before replying. 'That's not really true, though. Two years ago _I_ was the "heir of Slytherin", you know, so that excuse of us being in different houses with different personas doesn't make sense. I feel like I'm really close to the rest of your family, I mean, Ron's my best friend so- so, I think that we should talk more, I guess.'

Guin was still extremely confused as to where this was all coming from. 'Look, Potter, I can see that you're very connected to my family and I'm happy for you, I really am, because they share very similar beliefs to you- beliefs that I don't agree with anymore. And, I guess, if you want to talk with me more, or something, you could perhaps mail me during the year?'

'What do you mean you "don't agree" with their beliefs?' The look on his face told her all: he instantaneously thought that she meant she had converted to the dark side, it was obvious in the way he shifted away from her.

'I no longer believe that being "good" can be characterised as "supporting those who are like-minded to you". Gryffindors portray themselves as the kind of people willing to stand up against injustice and fight for what they believe in- _when it suits them_. I've never seen a mighty lion stand up for a person outside of their house being bullied, nor have I ever see one try and think critically through prejudice. To my family, and to those who share their beliefs, being Slytherin immediately makes you evil, being a Ravenclaw makes you smart and being a Hufflepuff makes you dumb- and being any means that you're practically irrelevant.' She was slightly out of breath after her speech, and entirely ready to leave as it was _too early in the morning for this_. However, Saint Potter seemed to have other ideas.

'That's not true at all,' he said, looking at her with disapproval in his eyes. 'I'm not like that, and neither are my friends. And even if we are, you are also guilty of stereotyping Gryffindors. I'm not a saviour, my purpose in life isn't to stand up for the weak and be some- some hero!'

'The majority of your actions are heroic, you can't have it both ways. You obviously have some sort of "saving people" complex.' She let out a loud sigh. 'Let's just agree to disagree. I'm going to make myself some toast, but I'll leave you with one thought- if everything I've told you is false, why is it that my entire family immediately began ignoring my existence after I was sorted into Slytherin? Why is it that my twin doesn't stand up for Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw we've been friends with since we were children?'

Guin crossed the floor in order to get to the kitchen, but a hand on her arm stopped her from entering. 'I know what it's like to be hated for something you can't control.'

'I don't understand what your purpose is, Potter.' She pulled away from him. 'Are you trying to get me to sympathise with you? Understand you?'

'I'm trying to get you to be my friend.'

 _Why would you do that, knowing that my brother, your best friend, hates me?_ 'Fine. Friendship accepted. Would you like some toast, Potter?'

'Yes please, Guinevere.'

Him saying her name sent a shiver of foreboding down her spine.

[break]

Their tentative friendship was put on hold as the rest of the house woke up. They were rushed to the train station in a typical chaotic Weasley manner, and she immediately separated to find her friends. The new school year started normally enough, minus the fact that the Triwizard Tournament would be held later on. Guin started three new subjects: the Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, along with an extra-curricular class in Ancient Studies. All three were promising and she was excited to expand her knowledge. Ancient Runes seemed to come easily to her, much like Transfiguration, whereas she would have to study hard to get a good grade in Arithmancy, as it was based more on understanding than memorisation. Ancient Studies had been a complete wildcard, and consisted of only one single lesson per week. The teacher was a scholar who dearly loved the subject, and the class worked as a History of Magic type lesson, only on multiplied by one thousand in enthusiasm.

Unlike Professor Lupin, who focused mainly on teaching them minor defence spells and dark creatures, Professor Moody jumped straight into the theory behind dark magic, as well as common curses that could be countered. Rumour was that he performed the Unforgivable Curses on the fourth years and up, but Guin was sceptical that the Headmaster would allow that.

She and Potter (he tried to get her to call him Harry, but she felt uncomfortable enough already) exchanged awkward notes every now and then, mostly on classes and the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. It was not until Sirius sent her a letter a few days into the term that Guin realised why the boy wonder was so desperate to befriend her.

It seemed that Sirius had mentioned her to Potter as they corresponded during the summer. Because she had a close relationship with his godfather, Potter had obviously decided that she did not fall in with the rest of 'Malfoy's Gang' and could be trusted. Hence, the sudden request for friendship.

The two other schools competing in the tournament arrived on the day before Halloween, one by air and the other by sea. Both boasted a formidable-looking array of seventeen year olds and all of which placed their names in the Goblet of Fire, a glorified wine glass, as soon as it was placed in the Great Hall the day after. Draco had been particularly excited by the fact that the Durmstrang students had chosen to sit at their table, though Guin was not quite as enamoured. The majority of them seemed to look down on Hogwarts students, most likely because the dark arts were not included in their curriculum.

 _It seems,_ Guin mused on the day after the champions were chosen, _that everything interesting occurs on Halloween at Hogwarts._ Harry Potter, her not-quite-but-sort-of friend had somehow tricked the greatest wizard in the world and illegally entered the tournament, presumably under a fourth school. Naturally, no one in Slytherin really believed that he was able to do it, most considered Potter's intellect to be close to a flobberworm's. However, none really cared enough to cry foul play, either. She suspected the Ravenclaws had the same idea.

Still, Guin did her best to support Potter from the shadows, more for Sirius' sake than for his. Although she tried to deny it, she was fond of that stupid, old Gryffindor and didn't want him to go anymore prematurely grey.

It was in late November that she was directly approached for the first time by her Gryffindor friend. She was sitting in the library on a Monday afternoon, going over some Arithmancy equations that, no matter how hard she tried, made absolutely no sense to her. Thankfully, she was in a rather secluded corner and the majority of the school were at dinner, which had just started, when Harry Potter plopped into the seat next to her.

Guin certainly _did not_ jump in surprise. 'Can I help you, Potter?'

'The first task will be fighting against a dragon,' he blurted out quickly.

'Come again?'

He let out an annoyed sigh. 'The first task will be _dragons_ , Guinevere. Big, terrifying, fire breathing dragons!'

This shouldn't have been surprising to her- she was aware that the Triwizard Tournament often involved a great spectacle for the first task- but she was shocked. She assumed that there was no way the Ministry would allow something so life threatening near young wizards, even if they were technically of age. Even more so, she was surprised that Potter had come to her with this. She was a year younger than him, after all, and therefore likely had less knowledge than him in _how to defeat a dragon_.

'Why exactly are you telling me this? How can I even help you?' she asked, raising an eyebrow as he clutched her forearm.

'I have no ideas, Guinevere. Hermione keeps muttering about heat repellent spells (as if they'd work against a dragon!) and Moody just had the strangest conversation with me about how my best ability is flying a broomstick. A broomstick, Guin. Against a dragon. I have to come up with something by lunchtime tomorrow or I'll be barbequed.'

'And my brother?' Guin questioned, confused. 'Ronald went through a phase when Charlie got his job where he was fascinated by dragons. He should have some strategies for you.'

A dark look crossed the Gryffindor's face. 'Your _brother_ doesn't believe I didn't enter the tournament. I think he'd be happy if the dragon killed me!'

'Don't be ridiculous.' She rolled her eyes, again. 'You are my brother's best friend, and he would never actually wish you harm. He is likely just a bit jealous, and he's not particularly bright. Obviously you didn't put your name in the goblet-'

'Thank you!'

'-you're certainly not smart enough to outsmart a centuries old magical piece of kitchenware.'

He made a face that looked like he would burst out laughing or into tears at any second. 'I'm not sure if that was offensive. Is that Slytherin humour?'

'It is humour only the intelligent can appreciate.' The boy wonder let out a wounded noise. 'Now, instead of wallowing in your own misery please tell me if you've looked at the dragon section of the library yet?'

'There is a section on dragons?' She reached her third eye roll in five minutes. Standing up, she grabbed the Gryffindor's arm and dragged him towards the aisle dedicated to Care of Magical Creatures.

The end of dinner found them starving and surrounded by books, which was Guin's natural habitat. Hogwarts didn't exactly have an extensive collection on just dragons, but they did feature in a few collaborative works on dangerous creatures. Guin, who read twice as fast as Potter, quickly made notes on the parchment beside her on the weaknesses of the great beasts.

'Well, it seems like their eyes are their weakest point, the rest of them are resistant to most forms of magic. There are a few potions that can affect them but I don't think you'll be allowed to take them in with you. It really just depends on what they actually want you to do with the dragon,' she concluded.

'What do you mean?'

'It's simple, Potter. If you have to battle the dragon- incapacitate it, get past it to the exit of the arena, I'm not sure- then it would be wisest to go for the eyes, and then run around it while its stumbling around in confusion.' Guin paused to take a breath, checking to make sure he was paying attention. 'But, dragons are traditionally hoarders of great treasure. So, it's possible that they will get you to retrieve something from it. If it comes to that, blinding it might not be as effective because the dragon could collapse on top of what you're meant to steal. Your strategy from Professor Moody would actually work best in that situation. On a broom you'd move much faster than the dragon in the air, and you already have practice snatching up small things when you play quidditch.'

'I can't bring my broom with me though. It's wands only,' he pointed out.

'Hmmm… isn't there some sort of charm you can summon it with? I haven't learned it yet but-'

'Yes!' Potter cried. 'We had that in Charms a few weeks ago!' He quickly deflated. 'I wasn't very good at them, though.'

She made it to her fourth eye roll. 'Isn't your best friend the "brightest witch of her age?" or something, Potter?'

His green, green eyes snapped to her before she was suddenly tugged into a suffocating hug. 'You're a genius, Guinevere! I might not die tomorrow.'

Fifth eye roll. 'As if Dumbledore will let any of you die. However, if you don't let go of me in five seconds, Potter, he may not be quick enough to save you.'

The fierce Boy-Who-Lived instantly backed away, but still resembled an ecstatic puppy. 'I can't thank you enough-'

'Don't mention it… _seriously don't_. You'll ruin my reputation. Now, take this list- I've outlined your two strategies- and try not to give me a heart attack tomorrow.'

'You're the best, Guin!' he called over his shoulder as he left, most likely to badger Granger to help him with the charm.

'I know,' she sighed, though he was out of earshot, and went to put away all of their books.

[break]

Luckily, Potter really was an excellent quidditch player and her plan was so successful that he tied for first place after the first task. Yes, Guin hadn't anticipated that they'd be cruel enough to use nesting mothers but she wasn't all knowing like Dumbledore- or, she wasn't just yet, though it was something to aspire to in the future.

Her interactions with Gryffindor's golden boy increased after their collaborative success in the first task, but she still refused to make their friendship public. Guin loved her life in Slytherin. She had three amazing friends who all had such different personalities, but somehow worked together perfectly. They spent their days laughing through their lessons and gossiping about their peers, with only their grades to worry about. Her status in her house as a whole was quite good because she was so close to Draco, who still tutored her on Wednesday nights. It was such a difference from her home life and she really, really didn't want it to change. And it would, if she let herself hang around Potter in public.

So, when the Yule Ball was announced and he asked her, desperate after he was rejected by his crush, she turned him down immediately. Instead, she spent the night compiling a list of appropriate girls that he could ask, all of which had decent grades, a good fashion sense and would not embarrass him when it came to dancing in front of the whole school. Naturally, she forgot that Potter himself had no idea how to dance a traditional wizarding waltz but she was only one person, she couldn't do everything.

A day after turning down the boy wonder, she accepted an invitation from a Ravenclaw called Terry Boot, a shy boy with neatly styled brown hair and a tall, thin figure. They met in front of the Great Hall and he complimented her on her royal blue dress robes. She danced with Terry at least five times that night, and then twice more with Draco, before receiving her first kiss (a bit dry, but nice enough) from her Ravenclaw date.

Guin tried to ignore the fact that Potter seemed especially miserable. She was glad to see that he had at least chosen her first preference, Parvati Patil, a witch with respectable repertoire in the materialistic part of the wizarding world. He and her brother had obviously made up, because after they ditched their dates they spent the rest of the night moping together at one of the dining tables.

Her Gryffindor friend began an annoying habit that year of approaching her the day before each task and trying to get her to solve his problems. The second time, it was because a gold egg had told him that he would have to search under the Black Lake for an hour to retrieve yet another "treasure", this time something precious to him.

'If Granger has no ideas, Potter, I don't think I'll be able to help you,' she tried to convince him as he sat at her usual table in the library.

'Hermione and Ron have disappeared, Guin! I have no one else to go to. Please, just think of something- _anything_ \- so I don't look like an idiot tomorrow!'

'Okay, okay. Give me a minute.' Guin sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. She knew that her brother Bill used a specific charm when entering crypts that were full of potentially harmful clay particles, but she didn't remember what it was called. It was a spell that caused a film around a person's head… almost like a bubble. She knew this because once he cast it when the twins let out simultaneous, toxic farts. 'There is a charm that will provide you with air in a bubble around your head for a certain amount of time. I don't remember what it's called.'

'The bubble charm?' Potter suggested. 'The breathing charm? The air bubble charm?'

'Hmmm… not quite…' She pushed her chair back to the two back legs and rocked back and forth. 'Perhaps it'll be in the seventh year Charms text book? Since the competitors are meant to be seventh years?'

'Okay, I'll check that! You keep thinking.' He rushed off into the book shelves.

Guin really couldn't remember for the life of her, and she suspected it was because she was never told what the charm was called. She just knew it existed. In fact, she wasn't even sure that it worked underwater! 'A bubble… around the head… air bubble… around head… air-bubble-head charm maybe?'

'What was that?' Potter asked, returning with a textbook that looked like it'd seen better days. 'I'll look it up in the appendix to find it faster.'

'Maybe the air-bubble-head charm?'

He shook his head after a few seconds and she let out a sigh of frustration, pulling out her pocket watch to check the time.

'It's already nine, Potter, and curfew is in an hour. We need to look at something else.'

'Okay… but we were so close!' The Gryffindor lay his head down on his arms in defeat.

'There wasn't even a guarantee that you would be able to learn such an advanced charm overnight! A potion or a plant would bring you better luck, if you could find it or make it in time.'

'I'm rubbish at potions,' he admitted before she went on with her theory.

'Okay.' Guin let out a frustrated sigh. 'A plant then. They wouldn't give you a task that was impossible, Potter! Do you have any Herbology books?'

'Only the text book for fourth year Herbology and a doubt it'll have anything in it…'

'Nothing more specialist? I doubt a student textbook would have something so specific. Maybe a book more tailored towards actual herbologists would be better?' she suggested. 'We could search through the Herbology section but we don't have the time! You might be able to express owl order the plant now if you pay the right amount of galleons, and it'll be here by breakfast tomorrow. But we need to actually have a plant to do that.'

'Wait!' Potter suddenly gasped. 'Neville- Neville Longbottom is great at Herbology. He might know something! If… if I run now, do you think…?'

'I will wait in the owlery until five till ten, Potter, and I'll help you owl order the plant from the company that supplies my uncle. They're always prompt when we express order. But I won't wait a minute more!' Guin warned sternly. 'I can't be caught out of curfew again.'

Potter paused as he was about to run off, giving her a cheeky smile. 'Again?'

'Run along, Potter, before I change my mind!'

Nine forty five at night found Guinevere shivering slightly in the stairs leading up to the owlery, hugging herself and cursing that she didn't put on another jumper that morning. She had been waiting patiently for five minutes but Potter was still a no show. In ten more minutes, she would get to go back to her warm common room and enjoy watching him make a fool of himself in front of the whole school.

It was a tempting prospect.

Thankfully, it was only another five minutes before she heard thundering footsteps climbing up the many stairs. The boy wonder practically kneeled over next to her, but in his hand he clutched a crumpled piece of parchment.

'It's… called… gillyweed…' Potter panted to her, handing the sheet over. 'But Neville isn't sure if it works in freshwater, or how long it lasts!'

'Doesn't matter,' she replied and began climbing the final steps. 'We've run out of time. Just hope it doesn't turn you into a fish permanently, Potter.'

'It could do that?' he called up after her, the horror in his voice obvious. Guin grinned but didn't reply. The owlery was very active that night, and she used a free bench to quickly write a note to a magical plant supplier she had corresponded with over the summer for Uncle Ignatius. They had never failed to send the plant the morning after she'd written to them, even when the letter had arrived at one in the morning. She really hoped this wouldn't be the first time they failed her.

'Okay, Potter, I need ten galleons to make this happen. Cough up,' she instructed and held out her hand. He didn't even blink at the amount of gold and handed it over easily. She secured it into a small pouch and plunked that into the envelope with the letter. 'Shall we send Hedwig? Will she be fast enough?'

The snowy owl in question let out an offended sounding hoot before sticking out her leg in front of Guin. She quickly tied the letter on before stepping back.

'Hedwig, you must get this to them as quickly as possible, okay? It's very important,' Potter said, stroking his pet's back before she flew off into the cold night. Guin let off a sudden, loud yawn.

'Alright Potter, it's out of our hands. Go get some sleep. Good luck tomorrow.'

'Thanks, Guin. I really can always count on you, can't I?' he said softly.

She sent him a smirk over her shoulder as she left. 'It's dangerous to trust a Slytherin, Potter. Remember that.'

[break]

The gillyweed did not turn Potter into a permanent fishman, much to Guinevere's disappointment. It did manage to hold the transformation for a whole hour, to her shock, though she later concluded that Potter simply had to have some sort of luck charm working. Everything seemed to always fall into place for him.

After the second task, Guin went back to focusing on her normal life and tried to put Potter's problems out of her mind. He had offered for her to go see Sirius, who was visiting Hogsmeade, with his friends but she didn't want to reveal that relationship to her brother. Instead, she snuck out the next day to give him a quick hug before he left again. Potter grew more busy, it seemed, as the third task approached and so they hardly spoke as the weather turned to spring. Guin took the free time to study for exams, which she believed she did well in, and tease Arietta over her new relationship (No, Guin, we are certainly _not_ boyfriend and girlfriend!) with a boy two years above them.

Fate returned and shattered her lovely, organised world into pieces, as it tended to do, during the third task. She should have seen it coming, considering the trouble her Gryffindor friend seemed to attract, Potter returned with the cup, however, that meaningless trophy came with the dead body of Cedric Diggory and the knowledge that Lord Voldemort, a man whose power had the potential to surpass Dumbledore's, had returned.

The world seemed to blur after that moment. Guinevere and her siblings were hurried home by their mother after the year finished, and there was no talk of sending her to Uncle Ignatius. Instead, they were packed in a few days and moved to a secret location: the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

If only she had known what the defenders of the light had in store for her. She would have run away at the first opportunity.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling_

 _Edited 08/06/2018_

 **FOUR: A Dreadful Summer**

There were pros and cons to staying at the hideout of the Order of the Phoenix, Guinevere found two weeks into the holidays. On the positive side, she was able to further her friendship with Sirius as it was his house she was staying in. He spent hours teaching her useless things- how to tune up a motorcycle, how to permanently stick pictures to walls, a secret potion that would make a person's hair flash multiple colours- or telling stories of his time at Hogwarts. Like most Gryffindors, Sirius was brave and brash, and didn't think before he acted when he was in his youth. However, Guin could certainly pick out the more Slytherin traits he had obviously learned from his family. Sirius had a mean streak to him and enjoyed the humiliation of others in order to further his own ambition (which, at the time of his Hogwarts years, was to be the prettiest but most manly boy in his year while causing as much trouble as possible). It was perhaps a product from his many years in Azkaban prison, but sometimes a dark look would cross his face when talking about someone he particularly disliked.

It was the look of a murderer.

Either way, Sirius was a definite pro to living at 12 Grimmauld Place. However, other than that, Guin was not a fan of her family's "holiday destination" for that summer. The children of the Weasley family (plus Hermione Granger) spent the majority of their day cleaning out room after room of mysterious dark objects and pests that had festered for years. Guin was often paired with Ginny, which was logical since they were twins, and had to endure either icy silence or sceptical insults as she worked. Another con was the loss of privacy as she was sharing one of the only inhabitable bedrooms with two other girls! Thankfully, Sirius had promised to fix his brother's room for her to sleep in eventually, but for the time being she was stuck with two Gryffindors that spent the night talking about boring, Gryffindorish things (perhaps, she was becoming bias towards her own house?).

The third con to living at Sirius' house was Harry Potter. He wasn't present with them at Grimmauld Place and that seemed to throw a lot of people through a loop. She had seen Ron turn in multiple occasions to say something to someone, only to find empty space beside him. Guin, who was sort-of-but-not-quite friends with Saint Potter, also felt a sliver of guilt for leaving him out of the loop. Dumbledore hadn't told _her specifically_ that she couldn't contact Potter and inform him of what was occurring in the magical world, but Guin just wasn't sure if she cared enough to attempt to get post out to him.

In the end, the decision was made for her due to a letter sent by her Uncle Ignatius.

 _Little Enchantress,_ it read, _Again, your mother has refused my request to send you to the manor this holidays. I must admit that I greatly miss your contribution to my research, I am not finding nearly as much information on my new legilimens spell without your help. Unfortunately, Molly insists that she will not send you anywhere until at least Harry Potter, though I am unsure as to what the Boy-Who-?Lived has to do with your living situation, arrives at your summer home. Until that time, I shall continue to send Lossy to you when you need her to help with cleaning. Do not feel as if you are putting me at a disadvantage by taking her, for she is your personal elf and must do your bidding. Incidentally, since you shall remain where you are (wherever that is) for the current future, I would be much obliged if you looked through whatever book selection there is for anything that would benefit our research._

It finished with the usual pleasantries, but Guin knew that it greatly frustrated her uncle to not have her over for the summer. Thankfully, there was a very simple solution to this problem. She would send a letter to Potter about everything that had occurred since he returned to his muggle family, and hope that his rage would result in a large enough tantrum that the Order would have to bring him to their location immediately. Just because Potter was her friend, didn't mean that she was blind to his habit of dramatic outbursts. In this situation, this personality quirk of his would work to her advantage and get her out of her prison.

The letter she penned was short and to the point, detailing where the Weasleys currently resided (not the address, just the fact that they were with Sirius), what the purpose of the Order of the Phoenix was as well as what had occurred in the newspapers after the Triwizard Tournament ended. Guin even went as far as to add old newspaper clippings that he may not have noticed, where the reporter had subtly mocked him. If anything was going to make him angry, it was that.

'Lossy!' she called when she had a minute alone, the fat envelope clenched in her hand. The house elf cracked into existence a few seconds later, a large grin on her face.

'Lossy is here, Young Mistress!' she chirped. 'What can Lossy do for you?'

'I need you to deliver this letter to Harry Potter at 4 Privet Drive in Surrey, don't wait for a reply.' Guin handed over the envelope. 'And don't give it to anyone _but_ Harry Potter, okay Lossy?'

'Yes, Young Mistress! Harry Potter, Privet Drive, Surrey, no one elses!' With those words, the elf disapperated with a loud crack.

As she predicted, Ronald and Granger, among many others in residence, received two very angry and scathing letters from their friend that night. However, no one was more distressed by their letter than Sirius, which Guin slightly regretted, as it had been full of indignation and annoyance. Dumbledore was immediately contacted as they obviously had a "spy" in their midst.

How contacting the very symbol of their resistance and the only person, other that Dumbledore, to actually fight the Dark Lord had made her a traitor, Guin would never understand. Either way, she wasn't even a suspect as no one, except for maybe Sirius, even knew that Potter and her were in contact.

'Now,' the headmaster began calmly as he sat as the slightly run down kitchen table. He particularly addressed her brother and his friend. 'I want you to answer honestly. The person who informed Harry of the Order will not be in trouble, I assure you.'

'Professor,' Granger cried in indignation. 'Ron and I haven't told him anything!'

'It's true, sir,' her brother added. 'Don't get me wrong- we wanted to. Harry's my best mate and it isn't fair to leave him out. But we didn't tell him anything.'

Dumbledore nodded. 'You must understand that this person could be informing many people of the Orders secrets, not just Harry.'

At this, Sirius finally put his foot down. 'You're acting like Harry is the enemy! If anyone has the right to know what is happening, as I've told you many times Albus, it's Harry! No one here has more experience with Voldemort, other than you. Harry has the right to know.'

Guin wanted to nod in agreement, but restrained herself. Instead, she pasted on a sneer and murmured a soft "Saint Potter", which earned her a few glares. Sirius and her mother both sent her reprimanding looks that she ignored.

'Either way,' her father attempted to placate, 'there is nothing we can do about this now. I doubt the person that informed him had bad intentions, Professor. Most of the children here are very close to Harry.' Fred and George complained loudly as they had recently turned 17, and were no longer children. 'We should focus more on what to do now. Should we collect Harry from his relatives?'

Dumbledore leant backwards in his chair, a look of resignation on his face. 'Miss Tonks is currently on guard duty. Alastor, please assemble a group to collect Harry and transport him here. Now that he is aware of the Order, we cannot leave him at his relatives house any longer.'

There was instantly a flurry of activity. Her brother and Granger stood up and rushed out of the room, obviously to contact their friend in an attempt to get back into his good graces. Ginny was smiling triumphantly, and Guin could tell that she was looking forward to spending time with the boy wonder. Despite the fact that her twin was currently in a relationship with Michael Corner, Ginny had never gotten over her school girl crush. In fact, it seemed to have intensified since Potter had saved her from the chamber.

Guin was happy that her sister seemed to finally be recovering from the trauma Tom Riddle had put her through. In their second year, her twin had been a shell of her normal, fire cracker self and, even though they may not be on the best of terms currently, Guin had always worried. She understood Ginny's abrupt rejection of her; she had trusted Riddle enough that he had been able to take over her soul. The way he manipulated her must have been emulated by Guin when she attempted to calm her twin outside of the hospital wing. And, although she was much better at not dwelling on what had happened, Ginny still had a wariness around Slytherins that bordered on paranoia.

Apparently she was acting on the concept of "if you'd met one, you'd met them all".

Guin snuck away to the bedroom she was sharing. She had been lucky to be tasked with helping clean the library in Grimmauld Place, which held a plethora of books on the dark arts. Collecting as many as she could, she had hidden them under her mattress (which was growing uncomfortably lumpy) in preparation for transport to Prewett Manor. There hadn't been a lot of material on the mind arts, however, she had found many on interesting and banned subjects. The one that she pulled out at that moment, and had been salivating over since she discovered it, was on the arithmetic equations that were used as the bare beginnings of spell creation.

She would admit that she was nowhere _near_ knowledgeable enough to begin creating her own spells yet. It required an extensive understanding of Arithmancy, a subject Guin did not have an affinity for, and an even more intimate awareness of one's magical core. Guin was perhaps more well versed in the theory of the origin of magic than her peers (it ran through their entire body- magic was present in every living cell of a witch or wizard, and accumulated much like a tumour in the middle of the chest, where the core was believed to reside), however, she still had far to go.

According to the book, written by Jarleth Hobart who had invented the levitation charm among many other spells, the best way to start was to modify an existing spell, rather than create an entirely new one. This was much like what her Uncle Ignatius was attempting to do. Spell creation was a notoriously volatile art that had steadily grown out of fashion through the years, though it was rumoured that Unspeakables still dabbled in it. An example of it back firing was the death of Luna's mother, a woman Guin vaguely remembered from her childhood. Pandora Lovegood died when the spell she was creating exploded and, for lack of better wording, blew her to pieces in front of her own daughter.

Just the thought of what had occurred made Guin pale slightly. She certainly wasn't brave enough to risk her own head for the sake of knowledge. She wasn't a Ravenclaw, after all.

Perhaps six hours later, almost dinner time, there was a loud crashing sound on the bottom floor of the townhouse. Guin assumed that Potter had finally made his entrance, which was mostly likely as dramatic as Lockhart's first lesson. The loud shouting completely distracted her from her book and, with a sigh, she stood to meet the rest of her company downstairs.

'WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?' Potter was practically screaming at the people clustered in front of him like a wall against a frightened animal. Granger and her brother stood at the very front, obviously trying to calm him.

Guin leaned comfortably against the railing of the second floor landing that overlooked the drama.

'WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!'

Before she could stop herself, Guin laughed lightly. 'Are you applying for a job, Potter? You certainly have very unique experience.'

The Boy-Who-Lived immediately halted, his reddened face relaxing slightly. Suddenly ignoring the united front before him, Potter turned to look up at her, lounging casually against the railing. A look of almost reverence crossed his face and then he grinned.

'You're as sarcastic as ever, Guinevere,' was his greeting, which threw her off a bit. She hadn't expected him to act so jovially towards her in front of everyone else. 'And they should hire me, I'm certainly the most experienced person here.'

Her right eyebrow raised. 'Harry Potter: Underage dark lord exterminator.'

His grin grew sheepish. 'Something like that.'

Granger took a hesitant step forward, obviously hoping to capitalise on the boy wonder's improved mood, though she still looked slightly confused. 'Harry, you-'

'Thank you, by the way, for the letter.'

Chaos instantly erupted. Her mother marched forward, hip and shouldering a shocked Lupin out of the way to approach her youngest child, steam practically roaring from her ears. Ronald's jaw had dropped, Granger had tears in her eyes and Ginny looked like she might have fainted. Sirius had a look of realisation on his face before he also smiled, plainly happy that his two favourite teens were getting along, despite all odds. The many reactions were comical, especially from her elevated view, and she took a moment to admire the effect such a revelation had on her family.

'Potter, you truly do not understand the word subtly,' she sighed. 'I don't know how you missed the memo, but our correspondence was meant to remain a secret.'

He shrugged. 'I give credit where credit is due.'

 _Someone gained a boost of confidence over this summer,_ Guin mused as she observed the self-assured expression on Potter's face. For a boy who had spent the majority of his school years going with the flow because he was too shy to speak up, he certainly wasn't hesitant in stating his opinion now. If only this new attitude had come sooner rather than after the people he trusted most betrayed him.

Potter would have made a decent Slytherin.

'GUINEVERE CEDRELLA WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY THE ORDER! FIRST PERCY, NOW YOU- I AM BESIDE MYSELF! I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS!' her mother began to shriek (surprisingly imitating that rotten portrait, which had been glued shut by Fred and George the day before), marching up the stairs towards Guin.

'I didn't betray the Order, since Harry is practically a part of it,' she defended.

'HE IS NOT! HE IS FIFTEEN YEARS OLD, HOW COULD YOU-'

Guin cut her off. 'If Potter is _not_ part of the Order, then I dearly hope that you are not all banking on him killing the Dark Lord again. Since he is not part of the resistance, none of this war relates to him, then?'

'What are you talking about?' Indignation overtook her mother's rage. 'Of course we don't want Harry to have to face You-Know-Who!'

'You seemed perfectly fine with the last four times he did.'

'No, those were circumstantial! How could you think that we don't care that You-Know-Who is after Harry?' it was Ronald this time that was shouting. 'And this is his fight- THAT BASTARD KILLED HARRY'S PARENTS!'

Backing away from the leering crowd of enraged Gryffindors, Guin continued to try and argue her point. It wasn't that she wanted Potter to abandon the war and move to Australia or something, it was just that she was getting sick of the many double standards that seemed to exist for these "warriors of the light".

'If we take away the fact that the Dark Lord killed his parents, Potter is a half-blood descended from one of the most ancient and wealthy houses in wizarding Britain. He could disappear now and never work a day in his life. Despite what you all seem to think, Potter has more options than "symbol of light magic and future defeater of You-Know-Who".' Telling that her rational argument was getting to a few of them- namely Lupin and Sirius, and perhaps her father- Guin went in for the kill. 'You simply cannot have it both ways and choose to only include him _sometimes_. If Potter involves himself in this war, Mother, he will have to be fully committed and informed to stay alive with the Dark Lord's target on his back. Likewise, if you decide to shut him out and he leaves, he would have to erase his existence to prevent being hunted. Please don't tell me you people were stupid enough to believe that Potter would be fine being ordered around and lied to like some little puppet?

'Plus, how many of you "Order members" have actually met You-Know-Who face-to-face?'

'Dumbledore has!' Tonks cried. 'I don't know what your problem is, girl, but you've sulked around here for three weeks and I can guarantee you've never duelled anyone in your life. Your opinion doesn't really have much weight in comparison to seasoned fighters, who were a part of the first war.'

'Dumbledore, for all his intelligence and power, is only one man.'

'That is correct, Miss Weasley, and I am pleased to hear your opinion on the wellbeing of Harry. I was not aware that the two of you share such a connection,' the man in question appeared suddenly from the kitchen. Guin wrinkled her nose at his assumption.

'We don't have a connection at all, Headmaster, we're acquaintances at best. I'm just not a fan of other people dictating someone else's life. Surely, you can agree?' She narrowed her eyes on the old man, who had a grave look on his face.

'I do, Miss Weasley, however, I must admit that I am very disappointed in you for revealing Order information to an outside party.' _Did he not just hear to my entire, heartfelt speech? He was obviously lurking and waiting to make an entrance._ 'I believe it would be safer for all of us if you seek alternate accommodations for the rest of the holidays.'

Guin had to fight wildly to supress a grin when she realised they had played right into her hands. 'I'm sure my Uncle Ignatius can take me, sir.'

(Cue internal happy dance- being cunning was such a wonderful skill).

The only person who seemed to catch on to her plan was Sirius, who frowned at her and immediately spoke up. 'This is my house, Albus,' he reminded. 'Guin is welcome to stay as long as she wants. Her family is here.'

The scoff from both Ronald and Ginny was loud in the silence that followed his statement.

'Thank you, Sirius, but I don't want to be a burden.' _I'm_ ecstatic _that I can leave this dreary place._ 'I'll collect my things and be on my way.'

'I'm coming with you,' Potter, after remaining silent, suddenly piped up. Guin froze.

' _Excuse_ me?' Did she hear him wrong?

The boy looked a bit shy, but determined. 'I want to come with you, please. Out of everyone here, you are the only one that has always been honest with me. You've always had my back, Guin.'

'Harry!' Granger protested. 'You can't leave- Grimmauld Place is surrounded by enchantments to keep you safe! V-Voldemort is still out there!'

'Yeah, and the people _she_ hangs around probably know where he is,' her brother snorted. 'Stay here, mate. I know you're a bit pissy because you've been locked away for a while, but we're your best friends. You belong here.'

 _"Locked away,"_ Guin mused, _like a criminal._

Potter ignored them all and marched up the stairs, his trunk thunking behind him. They parted like the Red Sea, cautious in case he blew up again in anger. Guin, realising that there was no way to convince him at that moment to leave her alone, allowed Potter to follow her to her bedroom. He sat patiently on the bed that Granger occupied as she packed.

'I'm allowing this, Potter, because I pity your circumstance and, despite the fact that we're _acquaintances_ ,' she attempted to stress this, 'I'm not cruel enough to leave you here. My Uncle Ignatius is a relatively flexible man, and I believe he'll just be happy that I am now able to spend the rest of the holiday with him, so you staying for a few days shouldn't be a problem.' She didn't invite him for the whole summer because she was sure she could convince him to return to his friends eventually. Despite the fact that he was angry with them now, she knew that Potter's temper never lasted long.

'Thank you, Guin.'

Although Guin wasn't Granger and Ronald's biggest fans, she understood that they were following orders and were simply too trusting to try and disobey. Furthermore, all of their post was monitored here, so there would have been no way to send Saint Potter that letter without Lossy's help. However, she was also aware that the boy wonder was much too angry to think rationally at that moment. A few days in a relaxed environment should clear his head and then she would talk some sense into him.

When she lifted her mattress in order to start layering books into her magically extended trunk, Potter let out a noise of surprise. He stood next to her with a curious look in her direction.

'I would never pegged you as the type to steal books, even though you like reading,' he murmured.

'It is only because these books were going to be thrown out. And I'm a Slytherin, Potter. Cunning and resourceful, remember?'

'I don't understand how you can enjoy reading so much.'

'I only read things that are useful to me.'

He laughed, but the look of amusement on his face seemed simultaneously exhausted. 'And I thought for a moment you might be closet Ravenclaw.'

Guin rolled her eyes but laughed along with him. 'Not a chance. Here, help me load them in before they come and chain you up. I'm surprised Dumbledore isn't here yet.'

'If anything, he'll send up someone else. He doesn't seem too happy with me right now.'

She shrugged. 'I guess that makes both of us then.'

'Yeah.' A content smile spread across his face.

Confused and too tired (and hungry) to try and understand his strange mood, Guin turned back to loading the books into her trunk, which was starting to fill up despite the charm to make it significantly larger on the inside. In the end, she had to sit on it in order to zip it up. When they were both ready to go, and the sound of footsteps started up the stairs, Guin called for Lossy. Potter penned a short note to inform the others that they had left- despite the fact that he was angry with them, he had too much of a soft heart to worry them.

'Young Mistress has called for Lossy?' the elf asked as she appeared, taking in the two teens in front of her.

'Yes Lossy, I'd like you to apparate us to the manor please.' Now that she thought about it, Guin was surprised that Dumbledore hadn't warded the building against house elves. The fidelius charm by itself didn't block out creature magic.

'Both Young Mistress and her guest?'

'Yes, please. This is Harry Potter. Potter, this is my personal house elf when I stay at my uncle's, her name is Lossy.'

'Er, hello Lossy.' He gave an awkward smile to the starstruck elf.

'Lo-Lo-Lossy is honoured, sir!' she squeaked before slapping her cheeks. She then held out her hands. 'Please be holding my handses and Lossy will take you home, Young Mistress and sir.'

The three of them disappeared with a loud crack.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling_

 _Edited 08/06/2018_

 **FIVE: The Invasion of Potter**

Harry Potter's week long stay at Prewett Manor began awkwardly. Guinevere was not surprised that, in the beginning, the Gryffindor seemed to prefer hiding in the corner of the library and watching her and her uncle research, rather than interact with them. When it was the two of them alone, he was as he usually was around her- stubborn, a bit clueless but altogether good natured- but he seemed intimidated by her uncle. This amused her because she knew Uncle Ignatius wouldn't hurt a fly… well, if it wasn't in the name of research, that is. If she felt like being a more gracious host (which she did not as Potter had followed her from a sticky situation, not to spend time with her but to escape those who angered him) she would have attempted to draw him into their conversations and facilitate a bond between the two men, however, the matter was simply too complicated for him to understand. Despite the fact that the world seemed to rest on his shoulders most of the time, Potter was neither a dedicated student nor a natural scholar. He had far more interest in the physical realm- quidditch, offensive and defensive spells- than the theoretical.

And it was in theory, in developing new spells and potions, and the subtle magics that Guin and her uncle thrived.

Hence, for the first three days of his stay the boy wonder stayed out of their way and confined himself to working on his homework or sulking over his situation. Occasionally she would separate herself from her uncle's research to pull him outside and explore the manor together. This was more for her benefit than his, because even she went a bit stir crazy after reading books for too long. She wasn't Granger, after all. It was halfway through the third day that he suddenly stood from his previously preferred position of the only armchair in front of the fire and joined them at the desk in the study.

In a fashion that reflected the chaos of their minds, the table was covered in pieces of parchment which were, in turn, covered in illegible scribbles. Guin had graduated from sorting those into organised piles the summer before, and now had an active role in reading the bizarre journal entries from one of the only confirmed natural Legilimens. She was still excluded from the actual crafting of the new spell, but it was interesting just the same.

When Potter sat across from them at the table, she immediately put down the faded journal of the witch from the 1920s, and her left eyebrow lifted on instinct.

'Can I… help?' he asked at her inquiring look, a sheepish expression on his face. Guin glanced at her uncle, only to find that he hadn't looked up from the Arithmancy calculations he was hastily writing down. When they had begun their research, Ignatius had been trying to invent a spell for their desired effect. After a year, however, he had switched to potions. Arithmancy not only helped with the magical properties of numbers, but those numbers could be used to calculate the volatility and effects of potions ingredients at specific conccentrations (although, the main use of Arithmancy was still spell crafting).

Since her uncle was obviously neutral on the matter, Guin didn't see an issue in assigning him tasks. 'Perhaps sort through our notes and place them in piles of equal relevance?'

'Um, okay. What sort of relevance is there?' Potter looked at the numerous pieces of parchment with obvious confusion.

'Well…' She leant forward and gathered a pile she had recently written and put it to one side. 'That pile includes anything about natural or born Legilimency.'

'Legi-what?'

'Legilimency. I guess, you would consider it similar to… mind reading? Although that is only the tip of it. There are theories that the most skilled of Legilimens can tap into your mind and send in ideas that are not your own.'

'Like the imperious curse?'

'Yes, however, the imperious curse usually results in a lapse of memory afterwards. A person will, therefore, know that they were enchanted after the curse is lifted. This form of Legilimency, on the other hand, implants the idea in the victim's brain, but does not necessarily force them to do it,' Guin tried to explain. She had trouble dumbing down the complex concept of compulsion by the mind arts.

'So, instead of acting like a mindless zombie like with the imperious, they would do something and remember doing it, but not remember why?' Potter voiced out slowly.

'Yes, it is something like that. Because there have been very few skilled Legilimens in history, and those that are have usually been born with a natural aptitude for the skill, I'm afraid the details of how such a power would work can only be left to the theories of old men.'

'I resent that comment,' her uncle piped up, placing the notebook (one of many) of calculations and scribbles in front of him. 'On another note, please finish the annotations of that journal, Little Enchantress, and then sort out this mess. I must leave the two of you for my laboratory, as I believe I have a recipe that may have my desired effect.'

His absence was followed by an awkward silence as the two Hogwarts students worked in silence. It was interesting how she had had no troubles communicating with Potter at Hogwarts- in an environment where they were surrounded by people- but when they were in her own home, her safe place, she had trouble assimilating him. Talking to Potter at Hogwarts seemed natural, letting him into her actual private life was strange and unnerving. It made their strange relationship seem more serious than she ever thought it would be. She struggled to find something to say, even small talk! Instead, she returned to the journal and quickly finished up the notes for the last few entries, which occurred just before the owner's death.

Perhaps her main reason for not starting conversation was because Potter looked as if he wanted to say something. He had a pinched look on his face, like he had sucked on a lemon, and alternated from glancing at her and the parchment in front of him (one in anticipation, the other in confusion). It was only when Guin finished her notes with a flourish and sat back into her seat that he began to talk.

'You really are smart, you know.'

Guin raised an eyebrow. 'Thank you.'

'I mean I knew you were smart,' he said quickly. 'Obviously. You helped me so much last year with the tournament, I'm convinced I would have died without you. But this stuff… I don't even understand a word of what's on this paper. I-I doubt even _Hermione_ knows that magic can do this.'

'That is because the mind arts are not taught at Hogwarts, in fact, there is only one book in the restricted section that mentions them.'

'Why? They'd be so useful-'

She was surprised by his interest, but indulged him. 'Unfortunately, they are not something that can be easily taught. To properly utilise Legilimency or Occlumency, you must have an aptitude for it. Without a natural talent, they are much harder to learn and, even then, impossible to master.' His lips formed around the word "Occlumency" but he didn't bother to pursue it.

'Then you have an aptitude?' he asked.

'No. Neither me or Uncle Ignatius have any talent. We both only know basic shielding of the mind.'

Guin was flattered at how surprised Potter looked at this.

'What… then why…?'

'We are researching to overcome this limitation.' She leaned her chair onto its back legs and looked contemplatively up at the ceiling. 'You see, usually no one would bother with the mind arts because hardly any are proficient at them, so there's no need really to know how to shield from them. That changed recently, though.'

'Why? If no one can actually use Legilimency-'

'You can't think of _one_ wizard who would definitely be able to read the minds of his followers? Someone so naturally talented at magic that they _must_ be a master Legilimens as well?'

He paled. 'You mean Voldemort?'

'The Dark Lord was very well known for breaking the minds of both his followers and his enemies. His mastery of the mind arts is second to none except, perhaps, Headmaster Dumbledore,' Guin said.

Potter picked up the parchment he had been looking at before, reading over it again with much more intensity. 'He can hear the thoughts of those around him, delve deep into people's memories and plant images in their minds?'

'Among many other things. The Dark Lord is a master manipulator, Potter, and you would do well to remember that. However, he is not the full reason why we are researching this. When my uncle finds something others consider impossible, he often works tirelessly to overcome those limitations. That is what makes him a Ravenclaw.'

After this conversation, the two of them started sorting through the notes with far more vigour, Potter pausing every now and then to ask questions on the theories they had thought of. It seemed that when it came to You-Know-Who, the boy wonder hoarded information like a dragon hoarded treasure. Guin was unsure if this was because a lot of information was withheld from him by the older members of the Order, or because he wanted to be genuinely prepared to face his enemy. Perhaps, it was a bit of both.

When they were finished, there were five neat piles of parchment lined up on the table, and Guin had asked Lossy to bring them some tea and cakes. Potter's face was unusually pensive as they snacked.

'Do you think… that I was too harsh on them?' he mumbled, frowning down at the table.

'On your friends?'

'Yes.'

'They will not hold your anger against you.'

He frowned. 'That wasn't what I asked. I know I had a right to be angry, but should I have been more understanding of their situation? I doubt the Order hardly told them anything anyway.'

'I don't think I'm the right person to ask that,' Guin sighed. 'They are your friends, you know them much better than I do.' She was glad that he had finally simmered down and was thinking rationally, but she couldn't consult him on her brother and Granger since the way they thought was quite different from her.

'You seem to have an answer for everything, though.' His tone was on the edge of complaint, though it was obvious he was teasing her. He was slumped comfortably on top of the table, his face half-buried in his emerald sweater as it rested on his arms and his hair a disarray of dark strands atop his head. Guin blinked a few times before answering ( _he looks cute like that_ ).

'I consider that a compliment, so, thank you. But I am not Granger- I don't hoard every type of knowledge.' She smirked at him. 'And I don't think the world could handle having two people like Granger around at the same time.'

'She is a force to be reckoned with,' Potter agreed. Guin would have also described her as that, though not in a kind way.

'Either way, how you feel about your friends and your situation cannot be decided by anyone else but you.'

He looked like he agreed, but was resigned to that fact. If Potter had his way, there would be no conflicts with his close people and everyone would live in peace. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't how the real world worked.

'I'm… _trying_ ,' he managed to grit out. 'But the fact that they looked so self-righteous, like I was just a child having a tantrum, after Cedric _died_ and no one did anything to help-'

'If they had their way, I'm sure your friends would have-'

'If it was you,' he interrupted.

'Me?'

'If you were in Gryffindor, and one of my best friends, and I had just seen someone die, you wouldn't have let anyone- not the Order, not your parents, not even Dumbledore- keep you away from comforting me.' He said this with such certainty that Guin felt herself soften, sympathising with his plight.

'But I am not a Gryffindor Harry,' she said, using his first name for the first time she could remember. 'And the _reason_ I'm not a part of your house is because, if any of my best friends were sad and alone, I would bend or break any rule to help them. It's not a matter of bravery, it is about being cunning enough to not get caught until you want to be.'

'It sounds brave to me,' he grumbled, but didn't argue with her further.

'Granger and my brother,' she began tentatively, 'trust adults, figures with authority, to make the right decisions. They did not grow up like you, Potter, in a household where you had to be independent. Despite what it seems like, neither have ever had to make a serious decision without the failsafe of having something to return to.'

'So that justifies them?'

'It doesn't justify anything. It only serves as an explanation.'

He sighed into his arms. 'I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm still confused.'

'Okay.' Guin paused. 'Would you like to go flying instead?'

Potter instantly perked up. 'You like Quidditch?'

'No!' she shot down quickly. 'I am neither confident or graceful in the air, though I enjoy it well enough. But, I know you like to fly, obviously, and there is ample amount of grounds for us to use here as you already know.' _When you return to the Order, you will be unable to fly for the rest of the summer,_ went unsaid.

'Yeah.' A sudden eagerness overtook his face. 'I can teach you!'

She cringed away from him slightly. 'Teach me what?'

'Quidditch, of course. I'm sure you'll make a fine chaser!'

Guin went to protest, but he was already out of his seat and speeding out of the library to get his broom.

 _Perhaps, just this once, I will suffer to make him happy._

[break]

Potter stayed with Guinevere at her uncle's mansion for another five days, which were spent alternating between flying through the grounds and small orchard and researching in the study. Each day, he became more and more comfortable, and a fixture in her life she never thought he would be. At first it had been strange to spend every day with him, whereas before they'd met sparingly and under a lot of stress. By the end, she found Potter following her around to be almost comforting, even though spent the majority of the time babbling about topics that interested him while she listened.

Guin had never taken Potter ('For Merlin's sake, Guin, just call me Harry!') as a person who rambled, but he certainly was. She believed she learned more about the boy wonder in the short days that they spent together than in the three whole years previous. His favourite colour (blue), food (treacle tart), quidditch team (Puddlemere United- don't tell Ron!) and many other trivial, seemingly unimportant, facts were given to her without her asking. In turn, he somehow managed to wrangle her into imparting the same information. He was particularly interested in her upbringing- a length of time highlighted by summers running around the meadows and hills near the Burrow, or reading books with Percy by the fire- and what she enjoyed most about Hogwarts.

One day, as they sat inside during a sudden summer storm, observing it through the large bay windows, he suddenly pulled his wand out from his pocket.

'It's 11 inches, made of holly with a phoenix feather core,' he explained and held it out to her. She took it and found the balance strange, since it was around two inches longer than hers and slightly thicker as well. The colour of the wood was significantly lighter than hers, with a creamy tint.

Guin obliged his obvious curiously and removed her own wand from the pocket in her skirt. '9 ½ inches, red oak and the dragon heartstring of a Peruvian Vipertooth.'

Potter startled slightly at this, and smirked as he held the slightly reddish coloured wand in his hand. The amusement was poorly concealed on his face.

'Is there something funny about my wand, Potter?' Guin gritted out, trying to tamper down her annoyance.

He let out a snort. 'It's not… funny, per se. It's just… short and light and has the heart string of the smallest but most venomous breed of dragon…'

'What exactly are you referring to?' Her eyes narrowed as he stifled another laugh.

'Nothing.'

'Hmmm...'

'It's just… quite fitting, don't you think?'

'Are you calling the person currently holding the fate of your wand in their hands (literally) short and venomous?'

'No?' He looked entirely too innocent. 'You- You're not going to really snap it, right Guin? Guin? Give it back!'

Laughing triumphantly, Guinevere continued to climb over the furniture in the sunroom to escape the Gryffindor's desperate swipes, her own wand forgotten on the sofa behind them.

[break]

As Potter was fascinated at her wizarding upbringing, Guin was equally as curious about muggle primary school.

'We were educated in the basics by my grandmother, Cedrella Weasley, before she died when Ginny and I were around seven. After that, my mother did most of the teaching, although, occasionally my older brothers would help,' she explained on the sixth day of his stay as they lounged in the sunshine.

'Did you learn science? History? Religion?'

'No, only English and basic maths. History was taught to us more through stories than anything else, we didn't have a specific class. And religion varies throughout the wizarding world and doesn't play a large factor in it.'

He looked surprised at this. 'I thought, since we have Christmas at Hogwarts…'

'I assume some of the newer families are Christian,' Guin allowed, 'but the older ones, such as my family, usually believe in Avalon and the teachings of Merlin. I guess it's a similar concept either way, and each family is different.'

'Then why do we celebrate Halloween and Christmas?'

'I've never really thought about it but I think it's like how it is in a lot of countries where Christianity isn't the main religion- holidays are still celebrated, but the meaning behind them varies.'

'And science? You didn't learn anything, even the basic stuff like making a volcano out of paper mache?' he asked.

'Paper _what_?'

He laughed at her confusion. 'I guess not.'

'Some families begin tutoring in potions early.' _Like Draco's family._ 'Mum didn't want us to spend all our time studying, and she's never been very good at potions, so she didn't bother. Granny was too old to try by the time I was born.'

'Oh. So there is a disadvantage when you're raised by muggles, then? If wizarding families teach their children before Hogwarts.'

'Of course there is!' she cried. 'You have to think of the magical community and the muggle community as two separate countries that share the same space. Each has evolved in its own way and has its own culture and tradition. It is a mistake a lot of muggle-raised witches and wizards make, and the reason why a large percentage of them enter back into the muggle world after Hogwarts.

'Anyway, what was muggle school like? Did you have… what is it called? Break time? And did they really smack you with a board of wood every time you misbehaved?'

'A board of wood? Who told you that?' Potter asked, a shocked but amused look on his face.

'Charlie did when we were younger. He said a village boy told him.' She wasn't pouting. She wasn't.

'The only punishments we had were detention, where we had to sit out during recess or lunch- recess was "break time"- if we misbehaved,' he managed to explain to her through his laughter.

'Did you have many friends?'

His expression instantly sobered. 'No, not really.'

Guin instantly regretted her question and decided to share something personal to even the playing field. 'I didn't either. I mean, Ginny and I were close but we didn't like the same things, so she mostly spent her time running around with Luna Lovegood. Percy was the only one of my siblings that I played with, but he was quite a bit older than me and left for Hogwarts when I was six.'

'Oh.'

'I was never alone, though,' she admitted. 'Even though I didn't have any real friends, I was never lonely because I had my family. I guess I'm lucky.'

'You are,' he agreed.

[break]

It was scorching hot outside on the day that Potter decided to leave. He came down the stairs to eat breakfast with them and admitted that he felt like it was time to face his friends.

'I'm still a little bit angry, but I also understand that it wasn't really their fault.'

Guin was, surprisingly, a little bit sad to see him go. She hadn't had so much fun with a person her own age for quite a while. Spending time with Potter was so different to spending time with her friends. She loved the girls with all her heart, but they were Slytherins like her. They were a bit snarky, occasionally cruel and prone to explosive arguments during certain times of the month. Potter was much more uncomplicated, but Guin thought that might be because he seemed so _good_ all the time. He was good natured, good humoured, struggled to hold a grudge… he was just _good_.

Still, she didn't let her sadness show. 'That's great, I'm sure they're worried about you. I know my uncle has been getting quite a few letters from the headmaster.'

'From Dumbledore?'

'Yes, I believe they know each other through some academic society they are both a part of. Either way, I'm sure it'll ease his mind when you're back protected by the fidelius.' She said this at a whisper in order for her uncle to not overhear. 'When were you planning on leaving?'

'Just before lunch, I guess.' He smiled at her awkwardly. 'That way they can all be sitting down while they interrogate me.'

'I don't envy you my mother's ire, Potter. She's quite terrifying at times.'

'They'll all be a bit angry at me, I think, but I won't let them manipulate me anymore.' A steely glint entered his otherwise jewel-green eyes. 'None of them are my guardians except Sirius, they need to understand that I'm used to being independent and making my own decisions.'

Guin wasn't sure how long his new resolve would last, but was happy he had at least made peace with himself. Once they had finished eating, she helped him re-pack his trunk full of miscellaneous belongings (and teased him over his red and gold boxers that he had tried to hide under a pretty silk cloak) and then called for Lossy to take him back to Grimmauld Place.

'Thank you for everything, Guinevere,' he said just before he left with a small smile on his face. 'I can always count on you.'

She smiled back. 'I told you not to trust Slytherins, Potter. Goodbye and good luck.'

'For the millionth time, call me Harry.' The Gryffindor grasped the house elf's shoulder and broke out into a large grin just before he was apparated away.

'I'll see you at Hogwarts, Harry!'


	6. Author's Note- Editing

Hi everyone!

I hate it when authors put up these notes because just when you get your hopes up for a new chapter, you get something like this instead. I'll keep this short and simple. You guys probably thought this fic was abandoned and it was for a little while. Long story short, I had another chapter half written out and then my laptop died and I was too lazy to recover the hard drive, plus I'd kind of lost my muse. For around a year I put this story on hold.

Now, we come to this moment, at almost 2am my time ahaha. In an attempt to procrastinate from uni exams I read through this story again and I'm actually back into it. Expect a new chapter within the next week. But first, a few housekeeping things:

1\. **Every current chapter of this story has been edited and updated.** I'm talking new dialogue and scenes- a complete reboot. So, I highly suggest going back and reading over the whole fic if you have the time. I haven't changed the plot, but I've expanded on it and I think it flows much better now

2\. Don't expect regular updates until around July. Exams will be over by then!

This authors note will disappear with the new chapter. Until then, just a thanks to everyone who's stuck with me this far! Hope you enjoy the edited chapters xx


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